American Shiffrin nearing overall World Cup ski title

With every race, Mikaela Shif f rin draws closer to a couple of things she just can’t stop thinking about: An overall World Cup title. That much-needed vacation in Maui.

No time to imagine the beach, though. Still too much work left to do on snow.

The Olympic slalom champion has a 178-point lead over Ilka Stuhec of Slovenia with six races remaining — all on U. S. slopes. There are two events this week at Squaw Valley in California, before the season concludes next week with the World Cup Finals in Aspen, Colorado.

For most of the season, Shiffrin refused to give her chances at an overall crown much thought.

Lately, the skier from Eagle-Vail embraces the possibility.

“I was worried people would think I am too ambitious, or the overall is too lofty of a goal for me. But obviously it is a very reasonable goal,” Shiffrin wrote in an email to The Associated Press. “I’m not worried what other people think about it anymore.”

This week, she and her fellow racers tackle the Red Dog course at Squaw Valley, which hosts a World Cup event for the first time since 1969. She’s quite familiar with the hill, too, having won a giant slalom title at the 2014 U.S. championships. There’s a GS race Friday, followed a day later by the slalom — her specialty.

Then, it’s off to Aspen for the season finale.

No extra nerves, Shiffrin said, even if it’s close to her hometown. She’s trying to join Phil Mahre, Tamara McKinney, Bode Miller and Lindsey Vonn as the only Americans to win the overall crown.

“I hope I am able to free my mind and just race, rather than feeling pressure,” Shiffrin said in the email.

When closest rival Lara Gut of Switzerland tore her ACL in February, the overall title appeared inevitable for Shiffrin. But Stuhec has caught fire to close the gap. The remaining schedule favors Shiffrin, though, with four of the six remaining events either slalom or giant slalom. Stuhec has one top-10 World Cup finish this season in the two disciplines, while Shiffrin has 13.