SÖLDEN, Austria—A friendly pat on the back from her rival Petra Vlhova and a long hug from boyfriend Aleksander Aamodt Kilde in the finish area were Mikaela Shiffrin’s rewards for excelling in the season-opening World Cup giant slalom on Saturday. Shiffrin showed two runs of near-flawless skiing on one of the toughest hills on the women’s circuit to earn her 70th career win. The American Olympic champion’s performance was too much even for Lara Gut-Behrami, the reigning GS world champion from Switzerland. With 2020 overall men’s champion Kilde looking on, Shiffrin sat .02 behind Gut-Behrami after the opening leg but put in another clean run in the second to edge her Swiss rival by .14 in perfect, sunny conditions on the Rettenbach glacier. “Starting off the season strong is important, so I am super happy,” Shiffrin said. “It’s a pleasure to ski today. They did so amazing with this [course] …
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