Alpine skiing-Ljutic wins World Cup slalom at Courchevel, Shiffrin 10th

Adds Shiffrin quotes in paragraphs 9-11

Jan 30 (Reuters) - Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic earned her third World Cup win of the season on Thursday in the women's slalom in Courchevel, France, where Mikaela Shiffrin finished 10th on her return from an injury suffered two months ago.

Ljutic, who led after the opening run, had a combined time of one minute 45.06 seconds under the lights at the Emile-Allais Stadium to beat Sweden's Sara Hector by 1.26 seconds. Germany's Lena Duerr finished third.

The result lifted Ljutic, who did not have a World Cup win to her name five weeks ago, into second place in the slalom standings behind Switzerland's Camille Rast, who finished fifth at Courchevel.

"I'm living the dream and don't wake me up," Ljutic said.

Switzerland's Wendy Holdener was second after the opening run and 0.19 seconds behind Ljutic but failed to finish after she fell on her second run.

For Shiffrin, the event was her first race since a ski crash last November that interrupted her quest for a record-extending 100th World Cup win and left her with severe injuries.

Shiffrin was 0.87 seconds behind Ljutic after the opening run and in fifth place before going on to finish 2.04 seconds back.

When Shiffrin safely reached the finish area, she was all smiles as she waved to the cheering crowd.

"It was a very important step in my recovery to see how I am stacking up with the top skiers in the world and to see what I can work on to improve my skiing," Shiffrin said.

"I really appreciate watching them and I am so happy to be back competing with them. Hopefully, I get faster in the next weeks."

The 29-year-old American began the season needing three victories to reach the century mark on the World Cup circuit and set herself up to accomplish the feat on home snow after back-to-back slalom victories in Finland and Austria last November.

She then looked to be heading for victory in Killington, Vermont later that month but, with the finish line in sight, caught an edge that sent one ski flying as she tumbled and crashed into the safety netting.

Shiffrin established herself as the most successful Alpine skier in World Cup history, male or female, when she topped retired Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark's decades-old record of 86 World Cup victories in March 2023.