Mikaela Shiffrin: Ski Record At World Cup Slalom Stolen By Marlies Schild? [Video]

Mikaela Shiffrin hopes to set a ski record at the World Cup slalom but her chances may be stolen away by Marlies Schild.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Mikaela Shiffrin won her first World Cup last year.

After the first run, Shiffrin initially had the lead with a finish of 56.16 seconds, which was 0.22 seconds faster than the second place time for the start. Four-time World Cup slalom champion Marlies Schild was trailing by 0.69 seconds, putting her in sixth place.

This had many hoping the American teenager would set a new world record for the youngest female skier to win five World Cup slaloms in one calendar year. If Mikaela Shiffrin had won, she would have beat the record set by Janica Kostelic, who was 67 days older when she set that accomplishment in 2000. Unfortunately, this may not happen.

Although her first two runs at Lienz, Austria, weren’t impressive, Schild managed to up her game to win her 35th career World Cup slalom race, setting a new career world record previously set by Vreni Schneider.

Schild was apparently struggling a bit due to her knee injury and she hadn’t done any races recently, which apparently affected her ability to compete:

“It’s hard to believe but now for sure the record is mine. I must admit I felt relieved after [tying Schneider’s record in] Courchevel. I needed to break the jinx. It was making me nervous in the end. Everybody was talking about the record. I even noticed in training that there was a before and after Courchevel. I’m much more relaxed now.”

Mikaela Shiffrin says she is “happy with a podium” but also admits it’s disappointing to lose the lead she set with her first run. On her second run she dropped all the way back to 10th place and Schild was 0.47 seconds faster.

Lienz Slalom Standings

1. Marlies Schild (AUT) 1:55.63
2. Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) 1:56.04
3. Maria Hoefl-Riesch (GER) 1:56.26
4. Marie-Michele Gagnon (CAN) 1:56.64
5. Nina Loeseth (NOR) 1:56.87
6. Frida Hansdotter (SWE) 1:57.06
7. Chiara Costazza (ITA) 1:57.11
8. Christina Geiger (GER) 1:57.27
9. Wendy Holdener (SUI) 1:57.35
10. Anne-Sophie Barthet (FRA) 1:57.76
16. Resi Stiegler (USA) 1:58.70

But the contest isn’t over and the Women’s Alpine Skiing World Cup will continue on January 5, 2014 with a slalom in Bormio, Italy. Despite placing second place in Lienz, Mikaela Shiffrin still leads with 202 points after three races while Marlies Schild has 200 points. So it’s possible we’ll see two world records set this skiing season.