Shiffrin Second In Super-G, Wins Fourth Overall Globe

Two-time Olympic champion and six-time world champion Mikaela Shiffrin finished second in Thursday’s super-G at World Cup Finals in Courchevel/Meribel, France, clinching her fourth career overall Crystal Globe, a little earlier than expected. Slovakian rival Petra Vlhova finished outside of the points in 17th, making it mathematically impossible to catch Shiffrin in the remaining two races of the FIS Ski World Cup Finals. 

Conditions were not necessarily ideal for Shiffrin. Challenging light, warm temperatures, and a soft surface on an open and straight super-G set did not play into her technical skills. But in the end, it didn’t matter. Shiffrin carried her confidence from Wednesday’s downhill victory to the super-G, finishing a mere .05 seconds behind Norway’s Ragnhild Mowinckel. Switzerland’s Michelle Gisin finished in third, .13 off the pace. Vlhova was 1.39 seconds out. The super-G title winner, Italy’s Federica Brignone, finished in 19th, 1.64 seconds out. 

Despite the highs and lows of this season, Shiffrin admits she found some “really nice moments” during the last couple of races. She found joy in skiing to her career fourth overall title and 120th career podium. With the title, Shiffrin tied former teammate Lindsey Vonn with four overall titles. Among women, only Annemarie Moser-Pröll has more overall titles (six). When asked if this victory was more memorable than the others, given the challenges of the season, Shiffrin said, “It’s hard to compare them all…they’re all special, but this season has been one of the most confusing seasons I’ve ever had. I felt motivation, I felt triumph…but I also had some tough moments…this COVID time and different things that were difficult to deal with. That carried through the Olympics, and carried right until now.”

Shiffrin herself is still surprised with Wednesday’s downhill victory, admitting, “I never would say I’d be a threat to win downhills again after the last two seasons…I can perform well, maybe get some points…but I wouldn’t say that I had the right mentality or emotional or mental energy to push in downhill in a way you have to do to win.” She continued, “And, there’s maybe some conditions and how things came together for yesterday and today that suited me very well, so that was a perfect opportunity, and I can’t believe it worked out that way.” 

Looking ahead to the tech events on Saturday and Sunday, Shiffrin acknowledged that the conditions with the soft snow are not her ideal conditions, but she is looking forward to going out and just skiing. “We have two more races this season to hopefully ski well…and most importantly, just try to enjoy it,” she said. “It’s certainly not the conditions I normally love in either GS or slalom, but I think I can ski well if I’m working on the right things, so I can take it even as training days to practice how I perform in races on these conditions as well. So, that could be quite fun and could be something to enjoy, and I really appreciate that.” 

Brignone won the super-G title with 506 points, followed by teammate Elena Curtoni (390). Shiffrin ended up third in the super-G season standings, with 380 points. 

Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr won on the men's side, followed by Swiss Marco Odermatt in second, .53 seconds back. Switzerland’s Gino Caviezel rounded out the podium in third, .75 back. Olympic silver medalist Ryan Cochran-Siegle led the way for the Americans in seventh place, with Travis Ganong in 20th. In doing so, Cochran-Siegle snuck into the top 10 in the super-G season standings, along with the downhill season standings. Ganong ended up 14th in the season super-G standings. 

Aamodt Kilde won the super-G globe with 530 points, followed by Odermatt with 402 points. Vincent Kriechmayr ended up third, with 375 points. Swiss Marco Odermatt clinched the overall Crystal Globe over Aamodt Kilde on Wednesday. 

Up next is the mixed team event on Friday. The U.S. will not field a team. On Saturday, River Radamus will take on the giant slalom, and Mikaela Shiffrin and Paula Moltzan will represent the U.S. in the slalom.