Holdener holds off Shiffrin and joins U.S. star atop women’s slalom standings | CBC Sports

Wendy Holdener had a lengthy wait for her first slalom victory. The Swiss skier made it two out of two on Sunday in Italy.

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 in one minute 56.29 seconds, 0.47 seconds ahead of Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States and 0.70 ahead of first-run leader Petra Vlhova, who is still looking for her first win of the season.

The 29-year-old Holdener was the surprise joint winner in Killington, Vt., 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 Vlhova.

The 27-year-old Vlhova won the slalom title last season, as well as Olympic gold, but finished second in the overall standings to Shiffrin. Vlhova won the overall title the previous year.

Toronto’s Ali Nullmeyer was 11th of 29 finishers in 1:58.84 after sitting eighth through the opening run. Laurence St-Germain of Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Que., was 26th (2:00.31) while Amelia Smart of Invermere, B.C., didn’t qualify for the second run after placing 41st in the opener in 1:02.28.