Alpine Ski World Cup 2023: Lena Dürr wins bronze in the slalom

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Lena Dürr in the 1st run of the World Cup slalom

Photo:

Michael Kappeler / dpa

Ski racer Lena Dürr won the medal she had hoped for in the slalom at the World Championships in Meribel, France.

The 31-year-old took bronze in the surprising victory of Canadian Laurence St-Germain.

For Dürr it was the first individual medal of her career after three medals with the team.

At last year's Winter Olympics in Beijing, she took the unfortunate fourth place.

The 28-year-old St-Germain won by 0.57 seconds ahead of big favorite Mikaela Shiffrin, who missed a lead of more than half a second in the second heat.

In the end, Dürr was 0.69 seconds down on the winner.

In her success, she also benefited from the loss of Wendy Holdener from Switzerland, who was second after the first run.

St-Germain had never been in the top six in her career.

Dürr thus lived up to the high expectations.

After four podium finishes since Christmas and her success in Spindlermühle in the Czech Republic, where she even defeated Shiffrin, she was one of the medal contenders in her special discipline.

For the German Ski Association (DSV), it was the first World Championship medal in the women's slalom since Maria Höfl-Riesch won in Val d'Isere in 2009.

For Shiffrin, who had already won the giant slalom in Meribel, it was the 14th World Cup medal.

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