SUN VALLEY, Idaho (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin smoothly navigated a bumpy course to easily win the women's slalom Thursday at the World Cup finals.
The first-run leader, Shiffrin found another burst to finish in a combined time of 1 minute, 45.92 seconds and beat Lena Duerr of Germany by 1.13 seconds. Andreja Slokar of Slovenia took third.
Shiffrin glided through the course at Sun Valley with a large crowd cheering her through every gate. The American ski racing standout closed out the World Cup slalom season the same way she started it — with a win.
It was an injury-marred season for Shiffrin, who competed in only the slalom at finals. The 30-year-old Shiffrin has missed four slalom races this season and that's taken her out of retaining her title in the discipline. She still finished in fourth place in the slalom standings.
Croatian ski racer Zrinka Ljutic was 10th in Thursday's race and captured the season-long slalom title race over Katharina Liensberger of Austria. The 21-year-old Ljutic captured last season’s “rising star” award and is showing that talent ahead of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics. Camille Rast of Switzerland slipped to third in the overall slalom standings.
U.S. skier Paula Moltzan had a fast second run Thursday — finishing sixth — two days after a crash in the giant slalom. She wore a bandage on her chin.
For Shiffrin, a painful season drew to a close. She's worked her way back from a serious giant slalom crash in Killington, Vermont, in late November, where she suffered a deep puncture wound that caused severe trauma to her oblique muscles. The crash led to emotional trauma, too, leaving her with post-traumatic stress disorder in the GS.
This season has also included a memorable milestone for Shiffrin when she won her 100th World Cup race during a slalom in Italy on Feb. 23.
On Thursday, Shiffrin picked up World Cup win No. 101. Fittingly, there were kids in the crowd dressed in puppy outfits — a nod to Disney's “101 Dalmatians.”
When she takes the slalom course, any slalom course, Shiffrin's been tough to beat. She's won four of the six World Cup slalom races she’s been in this season.
Over her career, Shiffrin has finished first, second or third in a World Cup slalom race in 89 of 118 starts, which is a 75.4% podium rate. She’s won 64 times — a 54.2% victory rate.
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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing
