Mikaela Shiffrin wins overall World Cup title, places 2nd in super-G
Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway won Thursday's race
Mikaela Shiffrin won skiing's overall World Cup title for the fourth time on Thursday, fueled by speed races that turned her expected duel with Petra Vlhova into a runaway success.
Shiffrin finished second in the super-G at the World Cup Finals — one day after a surprise victory in the downhill — to put more pressure on Vlhova for the overall title.
The Slovakian skier had to finish no worse than seventh to stop Shiffrin from extending her lead in the standings beyond 200 points with only their specialty slalom and giant slalom races left over the weekend.
The defending champion finished 17th, outside the top 15 scoring places, to trail Shiffrin by 236 points.
Shiffrin sat in the snow watching her rival's run, shielding her eyes behind sunglasses, and smiled in her moment of victory. Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway won the race and was the first to greet Shiffrin with a long hug.
Shiffrin's boyfriend, Norwegian skier Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, was at the top of the slope preparing to race in the men's super-G, where he finished fourth. He had already clinched the is championship in that discipline.
Kilde edged Olympic champion Beat Feuz on Wednesday to win the World Cup downhill title.
WATCH l Kilde says 'it's been one amazing season' after winning 2nd Crystal Globe:
Austria's Vincent Kriechmayr finished first, beating Marco Odermatt of Switzerland by 0.53 seconds. Swiss teammate Gino Caviezel was third, 0.75 behind.
Shiffrin earned her fourth giant crystal globe trophy after winning three straight overall titles from 2017-19, and one month after struggling at the Beijing Olympics.
American skier Lindsey Vonn also won four overall titles in her career, trailing behind only Austrian great Annemarie Moser-Proll's six titles in the 1970s.
In the super-G, Shiffrin finished 0.05 seconds behind Mowinckel. Michelle Gisin of Switzerland was third, 0.13 behind.
The season-long super-G title had already been secured by Federica Brignone of Italy, who placed 19th on Thursday.
WATCH l Brignone has 'the right feeling' after capturing Crystal Globe:
Olympic champion Lara Gut-Behrami missed a gate and did not finish.
After enduring one of the toughest months of her career at the Olympics, winning no medals in six events, Shiffrin rested and trained for what proved to be a standout March.
Shiffrin and Vlhova started the month tied in the standings with eight races left — five in their favored technical disciplines and three in speed, which both have traditionally raced only selectively.
Those speed races proved decisive. Shiffrin was runner-up in a super-G in Switzerland, and then opened the World Cup Finals on Wednesday with only her third career victory in downhill.
In those same speed races, Vlhova posted results of 18th, 16th and 17th, respectively. She also competed in back-to-back downhills on Feb. 26-27 which Shiffrin skipped.
The rest paid off for Shiffrin. Vlhova placed only 16th and 29th in those races to tie the American in the standings instead of taking an expected lead.
You can watch live action from the FIS World Cup Alpine Skiing Finals on CBCSports.ca and the CBC Sports app.
Coverage continues on Friday at 7 a.m. ET with the mixed team parallel. A full schedule of upcoming events is below.
Schedule
- Friday: Mixed team parallel (7 a.m. ET)
- Saturday: Men's giant slalom (4 a.m. ET), women's slalom (5:30 a.m. ET), men's giant slalom (7 a.m. ET), women's slalom (8:30 a.m. ET)
- Sunday: Women's GS (3 a.m. ET), men's slalom (4:30 a.m. ET)
With files from CBC Sports
