Germany's Emma Aicher Wins Her First World Cup Slalom in Levi, 0.43 Seconds Clear of Lara Colturi

German alpine skier Emma Aicher won the first women's World Cup slalom of the season in Levi, Finland, on Saturday, November 14, turning her opening-run lead into a dominant victory with a combined time of 1 minute 52.62 seconds, the first slalom win of her career.

Aicher, who turned 23 on Friday, led by 0.36 seconds after the first run and extended her advantage on the Levi Black course to finish 0.43 seconds ahead of Albania's Lara Colturi, 19, who took the ninth World Cup podium of her career. Austria's Katharina Truppe climbed from fifth after the first run to third, 0.50 seconds behind, while Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic, third after the opening run, slipped to fourth.

The victory adds slalom to Aicher's World Cup resume after previous wins in downhill and super-G. She called it a good birthday present, saying she likes Levi, where she took her first slalom podium last year, and that her whole family was there.

Another storyline was the return of Slovakia's Petra Vlhova, 31, who finished 16th in her first World Cup slalom since January 2024, when she tore knee ligaments in a fall at Jasna and later underwent two operations. The race was held without reigning slalom champion Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States, who won nine of last winter's 10 World Cup slaloms and plans to begin her slalom campaign at Killington on November 29. Under a tradition dating to 2013, the Levi winner receives a live Lapland reindeer.

(Source: Reuters)

Source: Reuters

Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

Photo: 图：德国高山滑雪选手 Emma Aicher 在比赛中（2024年 Soldeu 站资料图）。Tournasol7 摄，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: German alpine skier Emma Aicher in competition (file photo, Soldeu 2024). By Tournasol7, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.