American star Shiffrin pushed by Croatian teenager on way to 5th slalom win of season

Mikaela Shiffrin earned her record-extending career win 95 by triumphing in a women's World Cup slalom Sunday, a day after the American ski star's main rival sustained a season-ending injury.

In the first race without Olympic slalom champion Petra Vlhova, Shiffrin edged Croatian teenager Zrinka Ljutic by 0.14 seconds with a two-run time of one minute 48.21 seconds. Sweden's Anna Swenn Larsson in third (1:49.02) and Switzerland's Camille Rast in fourth (1:49.11) were the only other racers to finish within a second of Shiffrin's time.

"We're missing somebody really big today, we missed Petra a lot, so it's wonderful that you stayed," Shiffrin addressed the Slovakian spectators in a course-side interview in Jasna.

"It was not easy on the second [run], now I feel the energy has gone," said the American, who led Ljutic by more than half a second after the opening run.

"I could hear you cheering for Zrinka, which was actually quite cool from the start to hear this noise. I knew she put down an amazing run and I had to push."

It was Shiffrin's fifth slalom win of the season and her 58th in total, a World Cup record for both men and women.

Shiffrin also set a record for most World Cup podiums in a single discipline with 82, having shared the previous best mark with Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark, who had 81 top-three results in slalom in the 1970s and '80s.

Laurence St-Germain was top Canadian in 22nd, clocking 1:52.61 and placing two spots ahead of Toronto's Ali Nullmeyer (1:52.95). There were 27 finishers and three athletes who didn't complete the race.

Vlhova crashed and tore ligaments in her right knee in Saturday's giant slalom near her hometown in the Tatra mountains.

Shiffrin and Vlhova have been dominating women's slalom