Shiffrin Claims Overall Title, Worley Wins GS Globe
Mikaela Shiffrin's season concluded on Sunday, March 20, when the 27-year-old hoisted her fourth World Cup overall crystal globe over her head. Shiffrin, who finished seventh in her final race on Sunday, is excited to get some rest before looking forward to spring and summer training, where she'll focus on conquering the softer snow conditions that seemed to give her a hard time this year.
Putting down an exceptional first run time of 1:06.32, Shiffrin was leading the pack by 0.82 seconds. Sitting in 2nd was Federica Brignone (ITA), followed by Ragnhild Mowinckel (NOR) in 3rd. Local hero, Tessa Worley was sitting in 8th with a 1.60-second deficit.
Not being able to find the speed she had in the first run, Shiffrin finished 7th and lost her chance in claiming the GS globe for the second time. Unfortunately for Hector, she didn’t manage to perform to the best of her abilities and finished in 14th also conceding her chance to win the globe.
Brignone taking advantage of the opportunity given to her, won the last GS race of the season to also claim her first GS victory of the season. Marta Bassino (ITA) reminded the World Cup tour that she is still a force to compete with and placed 2nd, 0.31 seconds behind the leader. The slalom globe winner Vlhova, finished in 3rd to claim her 5th GS podium of the season.
With Shiffrin finishing 7th, Hector 14th, and Vlhova 3rd, Worley’s 4th place finish secured her enough points to claim the women’s GS globe. The stars couldn’t have been aligned more perfectly, lifting the GS globe for the second time in her career and in front of a home crowd.
"All in all, it was a good season with some really great performances, and it was also a tough season," Shiffrin reflected. "I think everybody would say that they are tired at this point, and we're excited to have a couple of days at home before we start right up again."
"I had a really awesome first run," she said. "It felt like I was trying to replicate it in the second run, but in the end, I wasn't making quick enough turns with the change of conditions. It is what it is. It shows that I have work to do on these types of conditions. It was much like the slalom yesterday, and it gives me a direction to go. But it's so cool for Tessa, on this day, in France, that she was able to grab the globe."
Paula Moltzan joined Shiffrin in the giant slalom and finished in 21st. She is ranked 22nd overall in the giant slalom season standings.
On the men's side, Luke Winters grabbed yet another slalom top 10 in his final slalom race, finishing 8th overall. Winters sat in 21st after his first run and laid down the third-fastest time on the second run to bump him up in the standings and finish the season strong. Winters ended the year ranked 23rd in the slalom overall—marking the best season of his career.
Sunday's races in Courchevel/Meribel, France mark the conclusion of the men's and women's World Cup season. Next, the alpine team heads to Sugarloaf, Maine to compete in U.S. Nationals before jumping right into the spring training series.