It’s been quite the season for U.S. skier Mikaela Shiffrin, who won an Olympic gold medal in Sochi and was the World Cup slalom champion.
Shiffrin, a Colorado skier from Eagle-Vail, added one more accolade on Thursday, taking first place in the giant slalom at the 2014 Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships at Squaw Valley ski resort in Lake Tahoe.
The 19-year-old phenom posted a 1.5-second first run lead and expanded it to a massive 1.88-second margin of victory under bluebird conditions at Squaw Valley. Marie-Michele Gagnoncame in second.
“The second run I felt like I attacked a little bit more at the top,” Shiffrin said. “I let it go a little bit more. I’m just trying to figure out how to look for speed in GS like I do for slalom. So I’m getting closer.”
Crowd-favorite Julia Mancuso, who has called Squaw Valley home for years, posted a blistering second run on Red Dog to jump from ninth after the first run to third.
Mancuso won the U.S. Alpine giant slalom title five straight seasons, dating back to 2009.
“The snow was pretty tough the first run, so I wanted to just have a good run,” Mancuso said. “I’ve been having little problems with my hips, so at the end of the season I’m definitely tired. I just found a little bit of energy for second run, so for sure it was better.
“Nationals are about skiing with the legends, but also having fun. It’s pretty cool that we can race nationals on Red Dog. This is a really challenging hill,” added Mancuso.
Race conditions again proved to be good for the challenging Red Dog slope with consistent snow and perfect Squaw Valley skies for the second straight day of racing.
“It was probably the toughest hill we’ve skied all year,” Shiffrin said. “It has a lot of terrain and the whole thing is pretty steep. So it was really cool to end on this hill. I made some good turns, but I also felt the turns where I could have improved, so I know what I want to do with my next training session.”
Action continues Friday with the men’s Nature Valley U.S. Alpine Championships giant slalom, featuring Olympic gold medalist and five-time World Cup giant slalom champion Ted Ligety of Park City, Utah.
NBC TV will broadcast a U.S. Alpine Championships special at 9 a.m. on Sunday, March 23.
