COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colo. -- Mikaela Shiffrin is in a familiar spot after the first run of the World Cup slalom.
Shiffrin leads Wendy Holdener of Switzerland by 0.28 seconds going into the second run Sunday afternoon at Copper Mountain. Shiffrin has now won every slalom run so far this season and is poised to extend a streak of five wins in her last six slalom races dating back to last season.
The one outlier? A third-place finish in Are, Sweden.
"Push. Just keep pushing," Shiffrin said about what she needs to do in the second run. There's kind of nothing to lose, right? It's an amazing opportunity ... so yeah, just push and see what happens."
US skier Mikaela Shiffrin competes at the Copper Mountain World Cup
A win would secure Shiffrin's spot on the U.S. team for the Milano Cortina Olympics — not that her place is in any doubt. Shiffrin's 103 World Cup wins so far are more than any other skier, male or female, and her dominance so far this season has her atop the overall standings.
"I've had such quality training. In the preparation season, it was not a lot of slalom but the slalom I got was really good quality and my skiing was at a top level the whole time," Shiffrin said. "I've been reinforcing really good things. I feel like I can trust that skiing. It's just bringing the intensity."
She did that Sunday. While other skiers look as if they're fighting their way down the course, wrangling with each gate, Shiffrin's style is so fluid it masks the intensity with which she's skiing. Despite the length of the course — this is the longest on the World Cup circuit and also at the highest elevation — Shiffrin never lost her momentum or her speed.
When she crossed the finish line in 52.94 seconds, it was clear someone was going to have to have the race of the season to beat her. No one could. Only three skiers are within a second of Shiffrin: Holdener, Austria's Katharina Liensberger and Albania's Lara Colturi, who has been runner-up to Shiffrin in the previous two slaloms this season.
Even with the course getting rutted, it will likely take Shiffrin making a mistake for anyone to take her spot on the podium.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Mikaela Shiffrin leads after first slalom run at Copper World Cup
