Flachau, Austria – The women raced under the lights on Wednesday night in Flachau, Austria for the last Audi FIS Ski World Cup slalom before the World Championships. Mikaela Shiffrin, of Eagle, Colo., had a speedy second run, skiing from eighth place to grab third place overall. Frida Hansdotter from Sweden took the win and Slovenian Tina Maze finished second.

The crowd was huge, with 10,000 screaming fans cheering on the women. The course crew injected the hill last Thursday but with rain and 1.5 feet of snow falling on top of it over the weekend, the grippy track grooved up quickly.

It was a tough race for many, with seven DNFs in the second run. Shiffrin overskied first run, and finished eighth—only .68 seconds behind Hansdotter—but was determined to hammer it second run. She followed up on her resolve, putting the pedal down to finish third on the second run, and third overall.

“I wish I had charged a little more in the first run, but I’m happy with the second run. I picked it up a notch,” said Shiffrin. “Frida hammered the whole time. She even had a couple mistakes and made speed out of them. She deserved to win and I’m happy to be on the podium.

“I overskied a little bit the first run,” she added. “I was a little tentative because the snow was soft. I have to go for it more. I think that this snow allows everyone to attack, but it makes it tougher—you make mistakes. I have to learn from my first run. When the conditions are soft, I have to have the confidence to go for it. I can’t take my foot off the gas and expect to win.”

Shiffrin is second in both the slalom and the overall World Cup titles. She sits behind Wednesday night’s leaders—Hansdotter in the slalom and Maze in the overall. Shiffrin has won Flachau twice before. Winner Frida Hansdotter finished second to Shiffrin in the 2014 race.

Paula Moltzan (Lakeville, Minn.)—who missed the flip in 37^th place—and Hailey Duke (Boise, Idaho) did not qualify for a second run. Resi Stiegler, of Jackson Hole, Wyo., had a small fall in training on Tuesday and has soreness in her right knee. She sat out the race and is resting.

This was the last tech World Cup before the Alpine FIS World Championships at Vail/Beaver Creek, Colo. in February — Shiffrin’s home town hills. The speed women race next on Friday, Jan. 16, 2014 in Cortina, Italy—a rescheduled downhill from Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria.

“I’m really excited to go home and compete at World Champs,” Shiffrin said. “Normally the Americans don’t get to go home during the season. I’m feeling really good on my slalom skis right now and my GS skis, too. I think I have a shot at two medals. But as we saw today, sometimes I win and sometimes I don’t. It all boils down to how I ski on race day.”

OFFICIAL RESULTS
Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup
Flachau, Austria – Jan. 13, 2015
Women’s Slalom