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Velez Zuzulova wins Zagreb slalom, beating Shiffrin

Xinhua, January 4, 2017 Adjust font size:

Slovakian skier Veronika Velez Zuzulova won the most coveted trophy of her long and successful career when she was crowned in the women's World Cup slalom on Tuesday at Sljeme mountain.

World Cup leader Mikaela Shiffrin failed to claim a record-tying eight consecutive win as the American finished third, while Petra Vlhova of Slovakia took the runner-up.

"This is very special for me. It was my dream to win this crown. It was a lot of emotions for me," Velez Zuzulova said.

Coming into the race aiming to equal a record of eighth slalom wins in a row, Shiffrin failed to finish the first race, the first time in four years.

"I would like to have someone to blame but I just have myself. It was a really high speed course and normally I like those, but I just made a little bit of a wrong move and my ski went on the wrong side of the gate. That's my fault," Shiffrin said.

With Shiffrin out of her way, Velez Zuzulova, who finished second three times in a row to Shiffrin,held onto her first-run lead and beat Vlhova by 0.24 seconds.

The first triumph at Sljeme and fifth career World Cup win put Velez Zuzulova just ten points behind Shiffrin in the World Cup rankings with two races scheduled in the next seven days. Endit