Mikaela Shiffrin speeds down the course during a women’s World Cup slalom, in Flachau, Austria, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026.
Giovanni Auletta/AP photo

Paula Moltzan couldn’t have put together two better runs in Flachau, Austria on Tuesday night. Alas, the former Ski and Snowboard Club Vail athlete will have to keep waiting for her first World Cup win.

In the penultimate slalom before the 2026 Olympics, Mikaela Shiffrin captured her sixth win in seven starts and 70th of her career in Austria.

“I’ve skied with Mikaela since I was 13, and it’s like nothing new, but it doesn’t mean I don’t want to beat her,” Moltzan said. “We talk about it all the time and it’s going to happen at some point, but I’ll keep fighting until I get there.”

“Yeah that was exciting,” Shiffrin stated in a broadcast interview after her sixth win in Flachau. “I mean it’s always a challenge every time. This hill is super hard and really rewarding to ski well and it’s amazing to share this with Paula. Podiums with teammates is the best thing in the world.”

Shiffrin and Moltzan went 1-2 in Semmering in 2022 — Shiffrin’s 50th-career slalom victory. Prior to that, the last time Americans claimed the top-two steps of the slalom podium was in 1971, when sisters Marilyn and Barbara Ann Cochran went 1-2 in Mont Sainte-Anne, Quebec.

Paula Moltzan placed second in the World Cup slalom in Flachau, Austria, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026.Giovanni Auletta/AP photo

Shiffrin and Moltzan were first and second, respectively, after the first run, too. Shiffrin’s standard of 56.22 seconds was 0.19 ahead of Moltzan, 0.35 clear of Katharina Truppe and 0.78 ahead of Anna Swenn Larsson.

While Truppe got the home crowd going after sneaking past the red-hot Rast in her second effort down the Griessenkar slope, her two hundredth of a second advantage didn’t hold up against Moltzan, who charged aggressively from top to bottom. No one, however, could match Shiffrin’s precision. Her recent high-tempo work showed as she maintained crips turns near the bottom even after building up tremendous speed throughout the upper sectors.

“It’s been a big push and this is such high-level slalom skiing,” Shiffrin continued before praising Truppe, who rounded out the podium. “It was really cool to be a part of that today.”

U.S. skier Nina O’Brien moved up 10 places to finish 13th while Vail’s Liv Moritz finished 32nd in her first run. The Former Vail Mountain School dual-sport athlete was 0.18 seconds from earning a second start and her first World Cup points. Fellow Americans A.J. Hurt, Katie Hensien and Elisabeth Bocock posted DNFs.

It was Moltzan’s fourth-career runner-up finish, third podium of the season and eighth of her career. The 31-year-old currently sits third in the overall standings and fifth in the slalom cup race. Shiffrin is tops in both, with Rast chasing from the second slot.

“I’m very grateful to be closing the gap to Mikaela,” Moltzan said. “Which has kind of been the goal the whole season.”

The women’s World Cup circuit continues with speed events in Tarvisio, Italy on Jan. 17-18, followed by a giant slalom in Kronplatz on Jan. 20. The final tech races before the Winter Games take place in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republich Jan. 24-25. The Olympic slalom is scheduled for Feb. 18.

This story will be updated throughout the day