SHIFFRIN RECEIVES TROPHY; VLHOVA WINS LAST RACE

Seven weeks after securing it, Mikaela Shiffrin was finally able to hold and kiss the crystal globe for the best slalom skier of the women’s World Cup season.

The dominant American already had locked up the discipline title at a mid-season slalom in the Czech Republic in January, but trophies in ski racing are traditionally handed over only in the final week of the season.

Her Slovakian rival Petra Vlhova used a frenetic finish on her decisive run Saturday to win the slalom at the World Cup Finals at Soldeu, Andorra, ahead of Croatian prodigy Leona Popovic, while Shiffrin placed third.

“It’s the sum of a lot of hard work and many amazing races and the work of the whole team,” Shiffrin said. “I’m very thankful and very proud.”

Shiffrin, who also secured her fifth overall and second giant slalom globe, won six of the 11 slaloms this season, making her the first woman to win seven season titles in slalom, surpassing Swiss standout Vreni Schneider, who won it six times in the 1980s and ’90s.

Shiffrin will be after her 14th win of the season and 88th in total in today’s giant slalom, the last race of the season, a week after setting the record for most career victories with 87 at a slalom in Sweden.

“Since Are I felt a little bit more free,” Shiffrin said. “And even then, I still feel the nerves and the pressure, like I want to win just as much as before. I still have the same motivation, which is the most exciting thing.”

Elsewhere

Marco Odermatt underlined his dominance in men’s ski racing by breaking the 23-year-old male record for most World Cup points in a single season. The Swiss standout won his last race of the season, the giant slalom at the World Cup Finals in Andorra, by a massive 2.11 seconds over second-place Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway.