Katharina Liensberger scores repeat win in Are slalom

Reigning World Cup slalom champion Katharina Liensberger claimed her first win of the season in a dramatic slalom at Are on Saturday (12 March).

The Austrian was fifth after the first run, but a strong second descent saw her return to the top of the podium at the Swedish resort where she scored her first Alpine Ski World Cup triumph a year ago.

There was a surprise in second with Norway's Mina Fuerst Holtmann 0.16s behind for her first World Cup podium finish ahead of Beijing 2022 combined gold medallist Michelle Gisin (+0.23).

Petra Vlhova, who took Friday's giant slalom having clinched the slalom crystal globe in January, was fourth (+0.25) to close the gap on Mikaela Shiffrin in the overall World Cup standings to 56 points after the American slipped from fourth to ninth on the second run.

The double Olympic champion was far from the only skier to struggle on the second descent with Lena Duerr experiencing a case of deja vu from Beijing.

As she did in China, the German led after the first run at Are, and again she finished out of the top three at the end as she was 0.34s off the pace in fifth.

Sixth place went to Austria's mixed team parallel gold medallist Katharina Truppe.

After Sara Hector crashed out on the second run of Friday's giant slalom, the same fate befell her Swedish teammate Anna Swenn Larsson.

Swenn Larsson was third at midway and well up on the clock at the top of the her second descent, but the cheers from the crowd turned to groans as she hit the deck on a turn.

Double Beijing 2022 medallist Wendy Holdener missed the race after crashing in Friday's giant slalom.

After recording her third World Cup win and her second at Are, Liensberger said, "I have been here every year since 2017 and it feels great