Shiffrin retains Alpine World Cup title

OFTERSCHWANG, Germany: American ski queen Mikaela Shiffrin claimed her second successive overall women’s World Cup title after finishing third in the giant slalom in Ofterschwang on Friday.

The 22-year-old secured back-to-back crystal globes following giant slalom gold at the Pyeongchang Olympics last month.Shiffrin had to settle for fourth in her favoured slalom in South Korea. She skipped the downhill but picked up silver in the combined.

In making Friday’s podium behind Norway’s Ragnhild Mowinckel and Germany’s Viktoria Rebensburg Shiffrin moved into an unassailable lead in the overall standings.Her nearest rival, Wendy Holdener of Switzerland, lost any hope of overhauling the US star when she trailed in 14th on Friday.

Shiffrin, with 41 World Cup wins to her name — 10 of them this season - is already assured the slalom title while in the giant slalom standings she is lying 81 points adrift of Rebensburg and 32 behind Tessa Worley ahead of next week’s World Cup finals in Are, Sweden.

Shiffrin won slalom gold at the 2014 Sochi Olympics at the age of 18, a year after she won the first of her three consecutive world slalom titles. Her overall success overshadowed Mowinckel’s win, her first on the World Cup circuit after silvers in the downhill and giant in Pyeongchang.