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Hector dominates Shiffrin for Jasna GS win, Vhlova out for season / Photo: © AFP
Hector dominates Shiffrin for Jasna GS win, Vhlova out for season
Olympic champion Sara Hector put in two dominant runs to win the women's World Cup giant slalom at Jasna on Saturday as Slovak star Petra Vhlova sustained a season-ending knee injury after crashing out in front of her home crowd.
Hector clocked 1min 10.18sec and 1:07.62 in her two legs, the fastest time in each, for a winning combined total of 2:17.80.
American Mikaela Shiffrin, in her quest for a record-extending 95th career World Cup win, had to be content with second place behind the Swedish racer, at 1.52sec.
New Zealander Alice Robinson rounded out the podium, 2.71sec off Hector's pace.
"It feels so amazing," said the 31-year-old Hector, who had not won a World Cup race since a giant slalom victory in January 2022 in Kronplatz, two weeks before she won the Olympic title in Beijing.
"The snow was perfect, an amazing race, I had so much fun skiing today. I feel like my setup is so good for ice, everything was working today."
Hector, however, added: "I feel so bad for Petra."
Most skiers experienced grip problems on a particularly icy track with Vhlova, 28, falling at the ninth gate of the first run and going into the safety netting, resulting in a delay of around 15 minutes.
The reigning Olympic slalom champion was evacuated, conscious, in a stretcher to hospital where tests revealed a torn knee ligament that will see her miss the rest of the season.
"Thank you all for the support," Vlhova said in a statement released by her team. "I am positive I can handle the situation. I will fight for the earliest possible comeback."
Despite missing out on victory, there was a remarkable 149th career podium finish for Shiffrin.
"I felt I skied the best I can possibly ski on the second run and I'm super happy with that," said the American who won the midweek slalom in Flachau after visiting boyfriend Aleksander Aamodt Kilde in hospital after the Norwegian racer's own season-ending crash in Wengen.
Shiffrin consolidated her place atop the overall World Cup standings, on 1,109pts, with Vlhova second, 307pts behind and now out of the running for the remainder of the season.
Swiss skier Lara Gut-Behrami's sixth place was enough to see her go top of the giant slalom standings at the expense of Italy's Federica Brignone.
Brignone fell on the first run but escaped any injury, with the 33-year-old dropping to fourth in the overall World Cup standings and second in the giant slalom.
P. O'Kelly--BTZ
