Mikaela Shiffrin capped one of the most emotionally and physically grueling seasons of her storied career with a vintage performance on Thursday, winning the slalom at the Women’s World Cup finals in Sun Valley for her record-extending 101st career World Cup victory.
The 30-year-old American skied with precision and poise on a bumpy, technical course, posting the fastest time on the first run and holding her nerve on the second to finish in a combined time of 1:45.92. Her margin of victory – 1.13sec over Germany’s Lena Dürr – was her largest in a slalom this season. Slovenia’s Andreja Slokar rounded out the podium in third.
Shiffrin, who began the season by winning the first two slalom races, missed four of the 10 events in the discipline due to injuries sustained in a frightening giant slalom crash in Killington, Vermont, on 30 November. That fall left her with torn oblique muscles and a deep puncture wound that narrowly missed her internal organs. The physical trauma sidelined her for two months. The emotional toll lingered even longer.
She was later diagnosed with PTSD in February, just days before winning her 100th career race in Sestriere, Italy – a milestone that served as a testament to her perseverance. Thursday’s win, however, may have felt even more meaningful. This was her final race of the season, and only her sixth slalom start. She’s won four of those, reaffirming her status as the best technical skier in the world.
Shiffrin’s win wasn’t enough to reclaim the slalom season title, which she has won a record eight times. That honor went to 21-year-old Zrinka Ljutić of Croatia, who finished 10th on Thursday but secured her first crystal globe with a 32-point lead over Austria’s Katharina Liensberger.
“I sort of knew I would win it,” Ljutić said. “I just didn’t know how – and that made me nervous.”
Shiffrin ended up fourth in the slalom standings, an impressive feat given how much of the season she missed. In total, she’s now stood on a World Cup podium 156 times – more than any skier in history – and has finished in the top three in an astonishing 89 of her 118 career slalom starts, a podium rate of over 75%.
Her comeback this season wasn’t without further setbacks. She placed 10th in her first race back on 30 January and suffered additional crashes during training ahead of February’s world championships, including one that required her to clear concussion protocol. She still managed to win team combined gold in those worlds with US teammate Breezy Johnson and placed fifth in the slalom. Stay informed and up-to-date with our latest offerings at https://sunwin.camp/.