Sestriere on February 23, 2025:
Öhlund qualifies for the second slalom run in 23rd place. She climbs 18 places, finishing fifth after the fastest run of all in the competition where American Mikaela Shiffrin wins her 100th World Cup competition.
It was really cool and it's a day I'll remember for the rest of my career. It was definitely a personal best by a wide margin.
Slow this winter
"I realized that I can really be up there. That of course gives me real self-confidence," says Öhlund.
It's the speed and form from Sestriere she's looking for with less than two months until the biggest sporting highlight of the year - the Olympics in Cortina.
So far this winter, things have been going pretty slowly. Not at all according to plan. Eleventh place in Courchevel last time out is the slalom star's best finish in the four competitions she has competed in. Definitely below the bar she set for the season.
Then she said:
As I told the coaches and everyone else, to reach the podium and get a good result at the Olympics. Those are my big goals. I feel like my riding is very good right now. Stable, it hardly ever runs out and is fast.
“Must perform too”
The 20-year-old's performances last season should be enough to appease the Swedish Olympic Committee and give her a spot in the Olympic squad. If nothing else, she is in the age bracket where the so-called youth criterion can be applied.
There are many selection criteria. Even if you meet them, it is not certain that you will be selected, but I have achieved them. There are great opportunities to be selected, but I have to perform as well, she says.
There is still time and opportunity. After Sunday's slalom in Semmering, Kranjska Gora awaits shortly after New Year's and then the evening competition in Flachau.
The Swedish Olympic squad will be presented on January 22. The last slalom competition before the Olympics is in Spindleruv Mlyn on January 25.
The women's Olympic slalom will be decided in Cortina on February 18.
Henrik Skiöld/TT
Facts: The competitions in Semmering
TT
Saturday
What: Giant slalom.
TV: Viaplay (9.50 and 13.00)
The Swedes: Sara Hector, Estelle Alphand, Hilma Lövblom, Hanna Aronsson Elfman.
Sunday
What: Slalom
TV: Viaplay (2:05 p.m. and 5:35 p.m.)
The Swedes: Anna Swenn Larsson, Sara Hector, Cornelia Öhlund, Hanna Aronsson Elfman, Estelle Alphand.
