Mikaela Shiffrin finishes 10th in World Cup slalom on her injury comeback as Ljutic wins

COURCHEVEL, France (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin finished 10th in a World Cup slalom race on her injury comeback on Thursday, with Croatian racer Zrinka Ljutic winning in style under floodlights at Courchevel.

The 21-year-old Ljutic has won three of the past four slaloms. She was 1.26 seconds ahead of Sweden's Sara Hector and 1.28 clear of Germany's Lena Duerr.

Shiffrin was 2.04 seconds adrift. Chasing a record-extending 100th World Cup win, the 29-year-old American was fifth after the first run on the Stade Emile Allais course but struggled with her timing on both runs.

“I didn’t come into this race expecting that I was going to win,” Shiffrin said. ”I have to be at my top, top level. Now we build from here.”

Shiffrin crashed on Nov. 30 in a giant slalom in Killington, Vermont, and was injured sliding down the mountain. A couple of weeks later, the two-time Olympic gold medalist had abdominal surgery to clean out a puncture wound.

Shiffrin said before this race that she was prioritizing her recovery ahead of chasing the magic 100.

“It was a very important step in my recovery to see how I’m stacking up with the top skiers in the world, and to see what I can work on to improve my skiing,” Shiffrin said. “Also before the world championships it was so important to get this start.”

The worlds in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria are next month, where Shiffrin will be eyeing medals in giant slalom and slalom.

“For sure I want to target the GS and slalom and everything really depends on the next 10 days until those races, how it goes with training," she said. “I’m catching up to the fastest in the world so I have a lot of work to do.”

A massive 62 of Shiffrin's 99 World Cup wins have been in slalom. She cupped her hands and then waved to the crowd after finishing her second run.

No other skier, male or female, has won more than 86 World Cup races.

Having overtaken Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark, she needed a podium finish to equal Stenmark’s record of 155 World Cup podiums.

She was not quite ready to aim for that.

“It felt challenging and the top women they are are skiing amazing,” Shiffrin said. “I am so happy to be back competing with them, hopefully I get faster in the next weeks.”

Chasing a seventh straight win in slaloms, Shiffrin was the sixth racer to start at shortly after 5 p.m. local time and with the slightly fading light.

Shiffrin was a bit low on her skis but made up some time on the bottom section, finishing .87 seconds behind first-leg leader Ljutic, who crossed the line in 51.88 seconds.

“I want to watch the video from the first run. It was like a little bit of my timing or rhythm (was missing) to catch the track in the right way,” Shiffrin said. “I had some really good turns and some not fast turns.”

A smiling Shiffrin walked over to hug Ljutic as the young Croat sat watching from the leader’s chair. Ljutic had to pinch herself after winning a such a dominant race.

“I’m living the dream now so don’t wake me up," she said.

Shiffrin's been in Ljutic's position so many times before, but her expectations were more realistic after two months out.

Swiss racer Wendy Holdener was second after the first run but she lost balance and missed a gate early in her second run.

Austrian Katharina Liensberger placed fourth ahead of Switzerland's Camille Rast, who won the previous slalom in Flachau.

World slalom champion Laurence St-Germain of Canada placed 36th in the first run — around 3 seconds behind Ljutic — and so did not make the second stint.

Rast leads the slalom standings with 450 points ahead of Ljutic on 409 and with Shiffrin in ninth on 226.

Italian Federica Brignone leads the World Cup standings, with Shiffrin down in 17th.

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin gets to the finish area after completing a women's World Cup slalom, in Courchevel, France, Thursday Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic celebrates in the finish are after winning a women's World Cup slalom, in Courchevel, France, Thursday Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic celebrates in the finish area after winning a women's World Cup slalom, in Courchevel, France, Thursday Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic lies in the snow after winning a women's World Cup slalom, in Courchevel, France, Thursday Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin speeds down the course during the first run of a women's World Cup slalom, in Courchevel, France, Thursday Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic, center, winner of a a women's World Cup slalom, poses with second placed Sweden's Sara Hector, left, and third placed Germany's Lena Duerr, in Courchevel, France, Thursday Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin gets to the finish area after completing a women's World Cup slalom, in Courchevel, France, Thursday Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin gets to the finish area after completing a women's World Cup slalom, in Courchevel, France, Thursday Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

AMSTERDAM (AP) — Maximilian Ibrahimović is moving from one club his father used to play for, and going to another.

The 19-year-old winger, the son of soccer great Zlatan Ibrahimović, joined Ajax on loan from AC Milan on Wednesday.

“It’s cool that he also played for Ajax. I am happy that I have the opportunity to play here also and to develop," Maximilian Ibrahimović said.

“I want to write my own story. I am my own person, my own player, I am here to do my own thing. And I am really looking forward to that.”

Zlatan Ibrahimović currently serves as senior adviser to Milan’s American owners — acting as the key link between them and the club’s sporting operations, including player development — and would have had a significant part in his son’s move.

Italian media reports said Ajax has paid Milan 3.5 million euros ($4 million) for the loan until the end of the season, when the Dutch club will have the option to make the deal permanent.

“We are very pleased with the arrival of Maximilian," said Marijn Beuker, Ajax's director of football. "He is a talented forward with a good sense of positioning in and around the penalty area, and he has strong goal-oriented finishing.

"He is skillful with his dribbling and, above all, has a great winner’s mentality and training attitude.”

The Swede has progressed through the youth teams at Milan but has never played for the senior team, although he was part of the squad that traveled to Saudi Arabia for the Italian Super Cup last month.

He has scored five goals in 16 matches for Milan Futuro this season.

“He will initially mainly get his playing minutes with Ajax U23 and will regularly move between Ajax U23 and the first team during the season, so that he can get used to the higher level and the intensity of Ajax 1," Beuker said.

"Maximilian is a player with a lot of potential, and we hope that in time he can become a permanent part of Ajax 1’s attack.”

Zlatan Ibrahimović played for Ajax from 2001-2005, netting 48 goals in 110 appearances and winning the Dutch league twice as well as the KNVB Cup.

The talismanic forward scored 93 goals in 163 appearances over two spells at Milan, winning two Serie A titles and the Italian Super Cup.

"Ibrahimović is just a name. I am just Maximilian," the younger Ibrahimović said. “If I cared about my name then it would be all wrong, it wouldn’t even be fun to play if I would always compare myself. I don’t even think I look like him.”

Zlatan's other son, the 17-year-old Vincent Ibrahimović, recently signed his first professional contract with Milan.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

FILE - Sweden's striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Ajax Amsterdam celebrates after he scored his and his team's second goal against Olympique Lyonnaise during their Champions League match in Amsterdam Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2002. (AP Photo/Dusan Vranic, file)

FILE - Former soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimovic stands before the Italian Super Cup semifinal soccer match between Juventus and Milan in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, file)