SESTRIERE, Italy (AP) — Wendy Holdener had a lengthy wait for her first slalom victory. The Swiss skier made it two out of two on Sunday.
And this time she didn’t have to share top spot.
Holdener improved on her second position after the opening run to triumph in Sestriere, finishing 0.47 seconds ahead of Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States and 0.70 ahead of first-run leader Petra Vlhová, who is still looking for her first win of the season.
The 29-year-old Holdener was the surprise joint winner in Killington, Vermont, last month along with Anna Swenn Larsson. It was Holdener’s first slalom victory after finishing on the podium 30 times for the unwanted record of most World Cup podium finishes without a win in the discipline.
Holdener moved joint top of the slalom standings with Shiffrin, who won the two season-opening slalom races. She also moved into second overall, 19 points behind Shiffrin and 26 ahead of Vlhová.
The 27-year-old Vlhová won the slalom title last season — as well as Olympic gold — but finished second in the overall standings to Shiffrin. Vlhová won the overall title the previous year.