Last out of the gate the American sped through the 39 turning gates in 56.60s to push Canadian Valerie Grenier into second at 0.62s with Italy’s Marta Bassino in third.

In bright sunshine with temperatures at 3 degrees Celsius, the skiing conditions were perfect for the 330m vertical drop on hard snow from a 2167m altitude starters gate.

Three of the pre-race favourites bombed out in the first run as the Slovac Petra Vlhova, Sweden’s Olympic champion Sara Hector and Italy’s Federica Brignone all plunged through gates.

Should the 28-year-old from Colorado retain her handsome lead through the second run she will claim a record 88th career win and a 14th of the season.

Shiffrin secured her fifth overall crystal globe two weeks ago.