Mikaela Shiffrin won skiing’s overall World Cup title for the fourth time on Thursday, fueled by speed races that turned her expected duel with Petra Vlhová into a runaway success.
Shiffrin finished second in the super-G at the World Cup Finals — one day after a surprise victory in the downhill — to put more pressure on Vlhová for the overall title.
The Slovakian skier had to finish no worse than seventh to stop Shiffrin from extending her lead in the standings beyond 200 points with only their specialty slalom and giant slalom races left over the weekend.
The defending champion finished 17th, outside the top 15 scoring places, to trail Shiffrin by 236 points.
Shiffrin sat in the snow watching her rival’s run, shielding her eyes behind sunglasses, and smiled in her moment of victory. Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway won the race and was the first to greet Shiffrin with a long hug.
Shiffrin’s boyfriend, Norwegian skier Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, was at the top of the slope preparing to race in the men’s super-G. He is the champion in that discipline.
