Elise Pellegrin achieved a commendable result in her second showing at the Sochi Olympics yesterday after the 22-year-old Malta representative placed 42nd overall in the women’s slalom.

Pellegrin was the 76th skier to launch herself from the starting gates in the opening run at the Rosa Khutor Alpine Centre.

The conditions of the course were treacherous again but Pellegrin still managed to cross the finish line unscathed in a time of 1:07.10. She was classified 52nd provisionally from the 60 skiers who completed the course.

It is interesting to note that from the 89 girls who were registered for the slalom, there were 26 who failed to cover all the distance while three others did not even start the downhill.

Pellegrin then showed a remarkable improvement in her second run as she completed the course in 1:02.73 for an overall 2:09.83.

That effort lifted Pellegrin to 42nd in the final standings.

American 18-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin was a surprise winner of the slalom when she grabbed gold with an overall time of 1:44.54. Austria’s Maries Schild was the runner-up ahead of compatriot Kathrin Zettel.

In Sochi, Pellegrin became the first athlete to represent Malta in the Winter Games.

On Tuesday, the French-based skier of Maltese descent competed in the giant slalom, completing both runs. She was classified 65th overall from 88 starters.