Mikaela Shiffrin wins last slalom before Olympics and locks up record ninth season discipline title

SPINDLERUV MLYN, Czech Republic (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin has locked up the slalom season title with the Olympics looming to become the first skier in the six-decade history of the World Cup with nine season titles in one discipline.

The American star might have to share her record soon, though, as teammate Lindsey Vonn has eight downhill titles and currently holds a commanding lead in those standings in her second season back from her initial retirement in 2019.

On the men’s side, Ingemar Stenmark won the slalom globe and Marcel Hirscher the overall title eight times each.

Shiffrin dominated the last slalom before the Milan Cortina Games on Sunday, securing top spot in the discipline standings with two races to spare.

Shiffrin won both runs to beat runner-up Camille Rast, the world champion from Switzerland, by 1.67 seconds. The rest of the field, led by Germany’s Emma Aicher, trailed by more than two seconds.

Shiffrin’s victory came a day after she earned her first giant slalom podium in two years.

But the American was reluctant to read too much into those results and how they may translate to her form for the Olympics, where she plans to start in slalom, GS, and the team combined.

“At the Olympics is a totally different challenge,” said Shiffrin, who won slalom gold in 2014 and GS gold four years later, but didn’t finish any of her individual events in 2022.

“I’ve had great Olympics, I’ve had tough Olympics, I try to go in with an open mind, good spirit, trusting my team,” she added. “We’re coming in with strong athletes, so it’s time to enjoy that.”

This weekend’s races took place at the Czech venue of Shiffrin’s World Cup debut at age 15 in March 2011.

“It just feels amazing to be here. I feel like when I was 15 years old still, like, I don’t know, just love skiing. I just love skiing. That’s the best feeling to be here,” Shiffrin said.

Clinching the slalom globe and setting yet another record was not on her mind during the race, the American said.

“It’s actually hard to think about that today because there was so much to think about on the race course,” Shiffrin said. “So now it’s like a nice surprise.”

Shiffrin won her first slalom globe at age 18 in March 2013, her most recent one came two years ago. Last season, she led the standings but then missed two months of racing following a GS crash and Zrinka Ljutic of Croatia took the title.

Shiffrin’s 71 career race wins in slalom and 108 overall are both records for men and women.

Shiffrin’s seven wins from eight slaloms give her an insurmountable 288-point lead over second-placed Rast in the season standings. There are two more slaloms scheduled after the Olympics, with a race win worth 100 points.

Rast triumphed in the only slalom Shiffrin didn’t win this season, in Slovenia three weeks ago.

The women’s World Cup continues in Crans-Montana with a downhill and a super-G next weekend, the last races before the Olympics.

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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing