Mikaela Shiffrin won her second consecutive World Cup slalom event on January 4 in Zagreb, Croatia. Her 1.66-second margin of victory was the largest in the 10-year history of the event, . The victory comes on the heels of her December 29 win in Austria.
Shiffrin, 20, was the 2014 Sochi Olympics gold medalist and 2013 World Champion in the slalom event, but she鈥檚 spent the beginning of the 2014鈥2015 season finding her footing. After a disappointing 11th-place season opener in Levi, Finland, in November, she began working her way up the World Cup results. Shiffrin took , but at Kuetai in Tirol, Austria, she by a narrow 0.8-second margin.
鈥淔or the first time in my career, I just feel like I am in complete control of myself,鈥 Shiffrin told the AP. She credits the change to time spent training and testing equipment in Santa Caterina, Italy. 鈥淚 have started off really great with my career, but I am hoping to keep improving 鈥 I feel like I am in a really great place right now.鈥
Shiffrin鈥檚 win marks her 11th World Cup victory, making her the winningest U.S. Ski Team member in the event鈥攎ale or female鈥攁ccording to the USSA.
Her win occurred four weeks before the are scheduled to kick off at Beaver Creek in Vail, Colorado. A (2013, 2014), Shiffrin currently sits second on the , one point behind Frida Hansdotter of Sweden. The will take place in Flachau, Austria, on January 13.