USA's Shiffrin Wins Women's Slalom Gold Medal

American teenager Mikaela Shiffrin, with the poise of someone 10 years older and the talent level of perhaps only herself, successfully made history Friday night at the Sochi Olympics.Shiffrin, 18, of Eagle-Vail, Colo., won the gold medal in the women's slalom, beating, among others, a trio of legendary skiers – 29-year-old Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany, 30-year-old Tina Maze of Slovenia, and 32-year-old Marlies Schild of Austria. Shiffrin had one notable run-in with a gate on her final run but powered through to finish with a time of 51.92 seconds that was enough to get her the gold. Kathrin Zettel of Austria won the bronze, while defending slalom winner Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany finished in fourth.It's nerve-racking. It just is," she said. "She seemed in a good place when she went up there. But nerves are funny. You can be fine the next second and awful the next second. You never know when it's going to creep in there. You can't let it creep in there."She also said her daughter benefited from her earlier race in Sochi - a giant slalom, in which Shiffrin finished fifth. Looking back on it she was super happy how she did," her mother said. "And then she heard (U.S. teammate and super-combined bronze medalist) Julia Mancuso was throwing her some kudos and saying, 'Good for that kid for doing that, for skiing well on that course.' And I think that was really good for her to hear. For sure, that was a confidence booster.