Larsson benefits from Shiffrin, Vlhova absence to win slalom
Sweden's Anna Swenn Larsson won the women's World Cup slalom at Soldeu becoming the first skier apart from injured duo of American superstar Mikaela Shiffrin and Olympic champion Petra Vlhova to win a race in the discipline this season.
Swenn Larsson posted the fastest time in the first leg and rammed home her advantage in the second run to time 35 hundredths of a second faster than second-placed Croatian skier Zrinka Ljutic.
Shiffrin's compatriot Paula Moltzan finished third, 83 hundredths of a second slower than the winner.
Shiffrin, who has five wins in the discipline this season, missed Soldeu as she recovers from a knee injury.
Shiffrin holds a commanding lead in the slalom World Cup standings -- second-placed Vlhova is 125 points behind but the Slovak three-time winner this season has been ruled out for the rest of the campaign due to injury.
However, Shiffrin will have work to do when she returns to clinch a sixth overall World Cup crown.
On Saturday, in-form Swiss skier Lara Gut-Behrami leap-frogged her at the top of the standings with victory in the giant slalom.
There remain two more slalom races on the calendar this season, in Are, Sweden, on March 10 and six days later at the Austrian resort of Saalbach, where the World Cup finals take place.
W. Winogradow--BTZ