At the last ski race of this year, the question arose early on: What do you have to put under the skis of the American Mikaela Shiffrin so that she doesn’t win? Steel wool or iron studs like those of footballers? To stay in football language: Shiffrin was in his own Shiffrin league at the Ski World Cup in Lienz. She showed this not only in the giant slalom in the days before New Year’s Eve, but especially in the slalom on Friday.
What could also be seen there, on the steep slope in Tyrol: In the league of all other slalom skiers, an athlete from Germany ranks at the top. Lena Dürr from Germering came closest to the best skier in the world at the slalom in Lienz. In 2.34 seconds you can say “Go heast, are you stupid?” in Tyrolean. whisper – that’s how much time there was between the 32-year-old Dürr and the 28-year-old Shiffrin after two runs. After her success the day before in the giant slalom in Lienz, Shiffrin now has 93 World Cup victories. At the beginning of the season it actually looked as if there were two athletes who could stand up to her.
The two slalom races in Levi at the beginning of November had left indications that Lena Dürr and her Slovakian colleague Petra Vlhová could keep up in the league of the extraordinary Shiffrin. Both were once faster than the industry leader from the USA. Six weeks later, however, the question now arises as to how long Shiffrin will need before she becomes the first female skier in the world to reach the 100 mark, i.e. a hundred races won. At that point at the latest, the Shiffrin phenomenon will need its own vocabulary: Skifrin, perhaps?
Dürr drives discreetly and sensitively, in contrast to the Slovakian Vlhová
Mikaela or Shiffrin, at the German Ski Association (DSV) you can breathe a sigh of relief at the turn of the year, and the Alpine department, it has to be said, has the slalom artist Dürr to thank for that. She has achieved all three podium finishes this season. Beyond their successes, they probably have all kinds of approaches for improvements at the DSV for men and women – or in other words, good resolutions for the new year.
Lena Dürr showed a fantastic performance in the second run. At the finish, the fifth-place finisher was almost a second ahead of Vlhová, who had been leading until then, after the first round. A signal in the direction of the Slovakian, who was only seventh fastest in the first run and who recently lacked the form of the initial phase in Levi. Dürr’s unobtrusively sensitive style of skiing, unspectacular and calm, proved to be more efficient in Lienz compared to the Slovakian’s powerful, more aggressive style.
And so what remains above all is the image of Lena Dürr, this woman who was once considered an exceptional talent in German skiing. Many years ago she once won in a parallel World Cup, which counts statistically, but is only half accepted in the scene. Then Dürr was in the competition, but could hardly be found in the second races or in the top ranks. Quite a few observers had already removed her from their watch list when she made a lasting comeback. Last winter she won her first real World Cup victory in Semmering. For almost three years, it has been Lena Dürr who, of all the skiing men and women in this country, has mastered the steep slopes most reliably and quickly.
At the finish in Lienz, Lena Dürr was almost overwhelmed. Less from the winner Shiffrin than from what she sees as the special audience – including friends and family. “The fact that all of my people are down there is something special, and that it turns out like this is unbelievable,” she said to the cameras. The next World Cup slalom for women is scheduled for January 7th in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, the home of Petra Vlhová.