Norwegian skier Braathen wins men’s World Cup slalom title
SOLDEU, Andorra, March 19, (AP): Norwegian skier Lucas Braathen fought back tears after wrapping up the men’s slalom season title Sunday, finishing runner-up in the last race at the World Cup Finals.
The globe capped an emotional campaign for Braathen, which included two slaloms victories and five podium results. But he also underwent surgery for appendicitis just before the world championships in February.
“Here it is, my baby. It’s been one of my dreams all season and now it’s here,” Braathen said while holding the trophy.
“My globe represents a lot of dedication and sacrifices over a long time. It’s not this year, it’s every single hour I put in since I was nine years old and started skiing.”
Ramon Zenhaeusern held on to his first-run lead to beat Braathen by 0.06 seconds and win the race, but the result was not enough for the Swiss skier to overtake the Norwegian in the standings as he remained in third position.
Henrik Kristoffersen finished the race 0.63 behind in third and trailed his teammate Braathen by 52 points in second place in the final standings. Kristoffersen had won the slalom title for the third time last season.
After finishing his decisive run in warm and sunny conditions, Braathen bent over and buried his face in his gloves, then looked up and made the V sign with both hands.
“I couldn’t believe it. I knew I had a possibility but fighting Ramon and Henrik in that last run, it was probably the longest slalom of the year, some of the toughest conditions,” Braathen said.
“I don’t think words can describe how proud I am to follow up in that second run.”
Braathen became the third Norwegian skier to lift the slalom title, after Kristoffersen and Kjetil Andre Aamodt, who won it 23 years ago.
Daniel Yule was the only other globe contender coming into the last race but the Swiss skier went out in his second run.
Overall World Cup champion Marco Odermatt does not compete in slaloms. The Swiss standout ended his season after winning Saturday’s giant slalom and setting the men’s record for most World Cup points in a single season with 2,042.
Mikaela Shiffrin won her 21st career giant slalom at the World Cup Finals Sunday as the American standout ended the season with yet another record.
The victory moved Shiffrin past Vreni Schneider, a week after matching the Swiss skier’s mark of 20 World Cup GS victories. The American has won seven of the last eight events and took the GS world title last month.
The overall record, between men and women, is held by Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark, who won 46 giant slaloms in the 1970s and 80s.
“I don’t know, you guys tell me,” Shiffrin said with a laugh when she was asked about possible next records in a course-side interview, conducted by her boyfriend and World Cup downhill champion, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde.
“Just keep moving right along,” added Shiffrin, who secured the overall, slalom and GS titles this season and extended the all-time record for most career wins to 88.
After Kilde asked her about plans to improve for next season, Shiffrin quipped: “We can discuss that later, in private.”
Shiffrin also set a personal best of 2,206 World Cup points from 31 starts this season, two points more than her tally from 2018-19, when she competed in 26 races.
Only one skier secured more points in a single season: Slovenian great Tina Maze ended her 2012-13 campaign on 2,414.
Sunday’s result also marked Shiffrin’s record 138th career World Cup podium, moving her one ahead of former teammate Lindsey Vonn’s mark of 137.
But for Shiffrin, her personal favorite record came nine years ago.
“Honestly, I think probably being the youngest Olympic slalom champion. That was really the only record that I actually ever wanted, like really shot for,” said Shiffrin, who was 18 when she won her first Olympic gold at the 2014 Sochi Games.
“It happened quite some time ago, and I’m still motivated today, I still had that nervous feeling up there. I was so nervous at the start ... because you want to do well. And it doesn’t matter about records, it’s just you want to do well.”
With the sun beaming down on the Avet course, Shiffrin held on to her a first-run lead to edge Thea Louise Stjernesund by 0.06 seconds. The Norwegian earned her first career podium.
Canadian skier Valerie Grenier was third, trailing Shiffrin by 0.20.
Three of the top seven ranked racers did not finish their first runs, as Petra Vlhova, who won Saturday’s slalom, Federica Brignone and Olympic champion Sara Hector all missed a gate.
Two-time former world champion Tessa Worley placed 11th in what she said would be the last race of her career. The French GS specialist has won 16 races and three season titles, most recently last year.