spurred the visitors to new heights in the new half. Th

LEVI, Finland -- American teenager Mikaela Shiffrin easily won the World Cup slalom opener Saturday, beating reigning Olympic champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany by more than a second to send an immediate message to her rivals ahead of the Sochi Games. The 18-year-old slalom world champion led by half a second after the first run and raced seamlessly at the top of the hill in the second to extend her advantage, overcoming a mistake near the end to clock a combined time of 1 minute, 55.07 seconds. "Im really happy with how the day went and Im also really excited because it looks like there are some pretty fast girls in the back of the pack," Shiffrin said. "Im excited for the Olympics for sure but there are a couple of races between now and then, so hopefully I can just keep this going." Hoefl-Riesch, who was in a tie for third place after the first run, skied nearly flawlessly in the second but still finished 1.06 seconds behind in second place. Last years overall World Cup champion Tina Maze of Slovenia, who struggled in the giant slalom opener in Soelden last month, was third, 1.61 back. Shiffrin emerged as a major star in the discipline last season by winning both the World Cup slalom title and the world championship race, making her one of the major medal favourites for the Sochi Olympics. Her dominant display on Saturday did little to lower expectations on the teenager -- although Shiffrin thinks theres still plenty of room for improvement. "Every day there is something you can do better," Shiffrin said. "Im going to go back and study my skiing from today and study all the other girls to see who is doing what well and try to get better." Another 18-year-old also made a name for herself, as Christina Ager of Austria finished fourth in her first career World Cup start. Ager started with bib No. 53 but was fifth after the first run -- in part because of favourable winds -- and then missed the podium by just 0.07 seconds. Hoefl-Riesch has won three World Cup slaloms in Levi and made the podium for the seventh time here. "It was a great day for me. I had a good feeling in training already," she said. "Its always really special for me here because of my first win many years ago and because of my many good results here." Maze said she was happy to get back to skiing fast after the disappointing result in Soelden, where she struggled with the high expectations after her dominance last season. "I got a lot of pressure in Soelden race, it was the start of the season so it was not easy to handle all of this pressure so I felt really empty," Maze said. "But at the end I realized its nothing important, the only thing important is to ski fast." Marlies Schild of Austria, the slalom specialist who injured her knee in December 2012, returned for the first time since recovering fully but was already well behind Shiffrin in the first round by the time she missed a gate and skied out. Still, Schild was just happy to finally be able to ski without feeling any effects of the injury. "Of course I wanted to race a second run but yeah, its not so bad at all," Schild said. "Im in a good shape, I have no pain anymore and thats very important for me and I just have to wait, I think, to get a good feeling." Four-time former overall World Cup champion Lindsey Vonn skipped the Levi meet and will make her debut in the speed events in Beaver Creek, Colorado, after recovering from a right knee injury sustained in a crash in February. "She is back and shes strong," Shiffrin said of her teammate. "Im impressed with how strong she is. ... I dont think anybody should count her out thats for sure." For Shiffrin, the Olympic gold medal is clearly main goal for this season, although she received another memorable prize on Saturday. In a first for this year, organizers presented the winner with a live reindeer from the local Lapland region. Shiffrin named the 6-month-old reindeer Rudolf, although she wont be allowed to take him home with her. "I scared him off a bit when I jumped off the podium to meet him but I think we will be getting along," Shiffrin said. "I hope that when he gets older and trained I can go for a ride on a sledge with him." Cheap Yeezy . The Toronto Maple Leafs forward and Nashville Predators goaltender highlighted Mondays waiver transactions, with Calgarys Chuck Kobasew and Edmontons Philip Larsen also being placed on waivers. Wholesale Yeezy . - Mark Sanchez found out the New York Jets had acquired Tim Tebow on a conference call with team management. https://www.fakeyeezywholesaleonline.com/ . -- Mixed martial arts fighter Cristiane Justino Santos has been suspended and fined for testing positive for steroids. Cyber Monday Yeezy .com) - The fading Ottawa Senators have a chance to make up some ground in the playoff race on Tuesday night as they play host to the New York Rangers. Yeezy Outlet . -- Arizona pitcher Bronson Arroyo is expected to miss a week to 10 days because of a back injury.ROME -- Duncan Weirs last-gasp dropped goal lifted Scotland over Italy 21-20 at Stadio Olimpico on Saturday for its first victory in this years Six Nations. Italy was heading towards breaking its own duck with a fourth straight home victory over Scotland after lock Joshua Furnos first international try, which replacement flyhalf Luciano Orquera converted with less than 10 minutes remaining. But defeat left Italy winless through three rounds, while Scotland earned some redemption in rebounding from a 20-0 home loss to England, regarded as one of its worst displays ever. "Its all a big blur to be honest," Weir said. "We had a few chances to go for it. I was in the pocket and Cus (Chris Cusiter) gave me a lovely ball and the rest is history. "You just have to go back to basics, get your ball drop right, and I managed to execute it. Its a great feeling and I am delighted for the boys we have come away with the win. We can kick on from here now." With captain Sergio Parisse and prop Martin Castrogiovanni marking their record 104th caps for Italy, they were in the forefront in giving their side a deserved 13-3 lead at halftime. All of its points came from former Scotland Under-20 flyhalf Tommaso Allan, including his second international try. Scotland upped its intensity after the interval, and centre Alex Dunbar scored two tries with Weir converting the second. Captain Greg Laidlaw missed one kick but weighed in with two penalties. "The quality of the match was disappointing," Italy coach Jacques Brunel said. "It was the worst Italy Ive seen since Ive been here. We gifted Scotland the chance to win through our mistakes. "Were behind in regards to our ambitions. I want to understand why we were so bad. We have to react. Our defence was good up until a certain point. But then ... we didnt do our part, we can put on very different performances." Scotland conceded a third scrum penalty in the 12th minute and from that the Azzurri went on the attackk.dddddddddddd As Italy punched at the tryline, roared on by the vociferous crowd, Allan forced it over but Robert Barbieris pass was forward, and Italy came away with a penalty. Scotlands indiscipline continued to grow, with the visitors conceding five penalties in the opening quarter -- and that was to increase to 10 by halftime. However, Laidlaw evened the score with a penalty kick in the 23rd. Scotland, which had one try in its last five matches in the Six Nations, had a great chance on the half hour when Weir broke in the Italian half but he cut inside instead of using Sean Lamont on his outside and slipped. Allan put Italy back in front with another kick, and added his converted try in the final minute of the half, going over from Furnos pass after Sergio Parisses charge off the back of the scrum. Rather than deflate Scotland, the late score spurred the visitors to new heights in the new half. They put Italy under sustained pressure. The breach finally came in the 54th when Weir jolted the ball from Italy scrumhalf Edoardo Gori. Scotland spread it quick, and Dunbar sliced through and sped into the right corner to score Scotlands first try of the championship. It took 12 more minutes to score its second. From a scrum on halfway, left wing Sean Lamont ran over Allan and Dunbar burst through. With Laidlaw off, Weir converted for Scotlands first lead at 18-13. Italy looked to have rescued the win after a big run by left wing Leonardo Sarto up the middle, finished by Orquera and Parisse sending Furno over in the right corner for his first try in 16 appearances. Italy had a two-point lead. But for the last few minutes, Scotlands forwards took control, busily working the phases, keeping the ball and making hard yards. With 19 seconds left, replacement scrumhalf Chris Cusiter fired the ball to Weir, who struck it sweet from 35 metres. He was already running back to his half in joy by the time the ball flew high inside the left post, the Stadio Olimpico stunned into silence. ' ' '