Shiffrin makes promising return after long absence

Levi, Finland: US ski star Mikaela Shiffrin shrugged off a near 10-month absence to finish second behind Petra Vlhova in the World Cup slalom first run at Levi in Finland on Saturday.

The three-time overall World Cup winner was all set for a fourth consecutive overall World Cup title when she ended last season abruptly after the sudden death of her father.

A bad back then forced her to skip the season-opener in Soelden.

She goes into Saturday’s second run just 15 hundredths of a second behind Slovakia’a Vlhova.

Behind the two favourites came Austrian Katharina Liensberger at 52 hundredths of a second with Switzerland’s Michelle Gisin at 1.07sec in fourth.

The second run is scheduled to start at 1215GMT.