Shiffrin leads 1st run, set to match Vonn’s World Cup record

KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin is leading the first run of a giant slalom and in prime position to match Lindsey Vonn’s women’s World Cup record with her 82nd victory.

Shiffrin established an advantage of 0.24 seconds ahead of Federica Brignone of Italy and was 0.39 ahead of Valerie Grenier, the Canadian who won on the same course a day earlier.

No other skiers were within seven tenths of a second of Shiffrin on Sunday.

Already with seven wins this season, Shiffrin is also quickly approaching Ingemar Stenmark’s overall record — between men and women — of 86 victories.

Vonn retired four years ago when injuries ended her pursuit of Stenmark.

Shiffrin was the first starter and laid down a much more aggressive run than either of her two trips down the steep Podkoren course on Saturday, when she finished in a tie for sixth.

“I couldn’t ski faster,” Shiffrin said. “I felt much, much better this first run than yesterday. I had to try to change my feeling from yesterday. It was very good skiing and I’m happy with that.”

With few American fans on site, supporters of Slovakian rival Petra Vlhova cheered Shiffrin’s run loudly.

Lower-ranked skiers were still coming down the course.

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Andrew Dampf is at https://twitter.com/AndrewDampf

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