HAFJELL, Norway — The final race of the season will be played Wednesday between Mikaela Shiffrin vs. Emma Aicher for the most prestigious title in women’s skiing.
Shiffrin won another slalom on Tuesday by a wide margin of 1.32 seconds over Wendy Holdener – her ninth in 10 World Cup starts this season.
That gave Olympic champion Shiffrin 100 points in the race for the overall World Cup title, but Eicher’s impressive third-place finish with 60 points kept the American’s lead in the standings below 100.
Shiffrin will start Wednesday’s season-ending giant slalom ahead of the German, who must win to deny the American superstar a record sixth overall women’s title in her illustrious career.
Shiffrin said of Eichner, “It’s weird to be talking about a fight with someone I consider a friend.” “It has been extremely exciting for me to be a part of these last races.
“I’m very excited to see what she does in the future but right now we have one more race to decide.”
The odds are in Shiffrin’s favor.
Eicher has never won a World Cup giant slalom and has a career-best finish of fourth, achieved this month in Hey, Sweden.
Shiffrin, the 2018 Olympic champion in giant slalom, can clinch the overall title with a top-15 result on Wednesday, earning at least 16 points.
Swiss skier Holdener helped Shiffrin take second place on Tuesday, just 0.04 ahead of Aicher. This left Eicher away from 20 World Cup points.
Shiffrin’s 110th career race win on Tuesday is the most ever by any man or woman at the World Cup. Ingemar Stenmark is in second place with 86 wins in the 1970s and 80s.
A sixth overall title on Wednesday would tie Austrian great Annemarie Moser-Pröll for the Women’s World Cup record.
Moser-Pröll won five consecutive titles from 1971–75 and then won a sixth title in 1979. Shiffrin won three consecutive titles from 2017-19, then two consecutive titles in 2022 and ’23.
Shiffrin set a Women’s World Cup record on Tuesday: nine wins in one discipline is the best in a single season in 60 years on the circuit. He had long ago secured his career record ninth slalom season title.
“This season has been very exciting, absolutely a whirlwind,” he said. “I am thankful for.”
The sun is shining on Shiffrin as the season begins, with warm temperatures of 7 degrees Celsius (44 F) and soft snow that has barely slowed the biggest slalom skiers.
