Mikaela Shiffrin is on the brink of Olympic gold after dominating the first slalom run, holding a commanding 0.82-second lead over Germany’s Lena Duerr.

MIKAELA Shiffrin is poised to end her Olympic medal drought after a blistering first run in the women’s slalom at the Milan-Cortina Games. The most successful World Cup skier of all time clocked 47.13 seconds on a challenging Cortina d’Ampezzo course.

She established a commanding lead of 0.82 seconds over Germany’s Lena Duerr. This puts Shiffrin in prime position to claim her first Olympic title since the 2018 giant slalom in Pyeongchang.

“It felt very good, it was really good skiing. I was super active, I felt very clean,” said Shiffrin. “I felt like I nailed it, with some question marks, but the time is good so I’ll take it.”

A gold would banish memories of her difficult Beijing 2022 campaign, where she failed to finish three races. It would also redeem her earlier performances at these Games, where she placed 15th in the slalom run of the team combined.

The 30-year-old arrived in Cortina as the overwhelming favourite, having won seven World Cup slaloms this season. Reigning world champion Camille Rast of Switzerland trails by over a second in fourth place.

Reigning Olympic champion Petra Vlhova of Slovakia finished nearly three seconds behind. Vlhova is competing in her first individual slalom in over two years following a serious knee injury.

Victory for Shiffrin would provide a bright spot for the US ski team. Their Games have been overshadowed by Lindsey Vonn’s horrific leg-breaking crash in the opening downhill.

The decisive second run begins at 1230 GMT.

 The Sun Malaysia