Ski racer Lena Dürr won the medal she had hoped for in the slalom at the World Championships in Méribel, France. The 31-year-old, who was still an ungrateful fourth at the Olympics, took bronze in the sensational victory of Canadian Laurence St-Germain. For the DSV athlete it was the first individual medal of her career after three medals with the team.
St-Germain (28) triumphed by 0.57 seconds ahead of Mikaela Shiffrin, who missed a lead of almost a second in the second heat. Dürr (Germering) was 0.69 seconds behind. She also benefited from the off of Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener, second after heat one. St-Germain had never been in the top six in her career.
Dürr thus lived up to the high expectations. After four podium places since Christmas and her success at the dress rehearsal in Spindlermühle, Czech Republic, where she defeated Shiffrin, she was one of the medal contenders. For the German Ski Association (DSV), it was the first World Cup medal in the women’s slalom since Maria Höfl-Riesch won in Val d’Isere in 2009. For Shiffrin, who had already won the giant slalom in Meribel, it was the 14th World Cup medal.