In Sweden, Mikaela Shiffrin's main goal for her first race back after a six-week injury break was to ski well.
However, she ended up having an incredible comeback by her high standards.
Shiffrin made a successful return to the World Cup on Sunday, winning the second-to-last slalom of the season for her 96th career victory and securing her eighth season title in the discipline.
After recovering from a left knee injury in Italy, the two-time Olympic champion dominated the race, outperforming Zrinka Ljutic from Croatia by 1.24 seconds and Michelle Gisin from Switzerland by 1.34 seconds.
Shiffrin expressed her disbelief at the outcome, emphasizing the uncertainty leading up to the race. Her primary goal was to ski well in the final races of the season to demonstrate her readiness for the next year.
Shiffrin's performance exceeded her expectations, particularly in the second run where she significantly outperformed her competitors.
She described her return as exceptional, expressing pride in her team and herself for her strong performance, particularly in the second run.
Shiffrin had been sidelined since spraining her MCL and tibiofibular ligament in her knee in January, in addition to recovering from a bone bruise.
During a challenging January program, Shiffrin, along with her partner Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and other champions, experienced significant crashes.
Reflecting on the tumultuous season, Shiffrin acknowledged the ups and downs for everyone, including her own frustrating moments in the past weeks.
Leading up to the race, Shiffrin had only managed four regular slalom training sessions in the past seven weeks.
Shiffrin mentioned her determination and ability to push through the race without being distracted by any discomfort in her knee, aiming for a cleaner run.
With her main competitor Petra Vlhova out for the season due to knee surgery, Lena Duerr was Shiffrin's remaining contender for the slalom season title.
Despite the pressure to win both Sunday’s race and the upcoming season-ending slalom in Austria to stay in the running, German skier Lena Duerr finished fourth, trailing Shiffrin by 1.35 seconds.
Shiffrin’s eighth win in slalom makes her the fourth skier to win eight crystal globes, the traditional prize in Alpine skiing, in a single classification.
Former American teammate Lindsey Vonn also achieved the feat in downhill. On the men’s side, Austrian standout Marcel Hirscher won eight overall championships, and Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark reached that number of titles in both slalom and GS.
The slalom makes up half of the American’s collection of 16 career globes, alongside her five overall championships, one super-G, and two GS titles.
Shiffrin’s only globe this season will be the slalom title. She skipped Saturday’s giant slalom on the same hill and won’t compete in the speed events of the finals, leaving her without enough races to close the 345-point gap on leader Lara Gut-Behrami.
The Swiss star, who doesn’t compete in slalom, has all but secured her second overall title, after winning it for the first time in 2016, and is also a strong favorite to win the downhill, super-G, and GS titles.
Shiffrin had already made a winning return from an extensive mid-season break to nurse a knee injury. She didn’t race for nine weeks after getting hurt in December 2015, but won her comeback race at a slalom in Crans-Montana, Switzerland in February 2016.
The World Cup finals for both women and men will end the season over the next two weeks in Saalbach, the Austrian host venue of the 2025 world championships.
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