Sport News : Schild continues slalom domination

The unbeatable Austrian claimed her 33rd World Cup victory, the 31st in her favorite discipline, in a combined time of one minute 51.42 seconds.

It was the world champion's third career victory in Lienz and the second on home snow this winter after Flachau last week.

Giant slalom world champion Tina Maze of Slovenia was second, 0.79 seconds adrift, for her second slalom podium this season.

Third place was far more unexpected and went to 16-year-old American Mikaela Shiffrin who finished 1.30 behind Schild to earn her first World Cup podium finish.

"To win four slaloms in succession is exceptional," Schild told reporters. "But I'm not thinking about breaking records.

"I don't know whether I'll be able to catch Vreni Schneider but it's important for me not to think about it and to stay focused and determined," added the Austrian, who is three wins short of Schneider's record 34 victories in the discipline.

Despite her domination in the slalom, the 30-year-old felt victory was becoming harder.

"My rivals are not so far behind and I can end up losing one, it's part of the game. I only hope it doesn't happen too often," Schild said.

The Vail-born Shiffrin, who started with the number 40 bib, last year became the youngest American slalom champion and hinted at her talent by finishing eighth in Aspen last month.

"Things have gone very fast for me since Aspen. Skiing is such an important sport here in the Alps and I'm glad to be part of it. I hope to be able to stay at that level to improve my starting number," she said.

American Lindsey Vonn finished a disappointing 18th but retained her commanding lead in the overall World Cup standings on 612 points with Schild second on 440.