ARE, Sweden: Austrian Julia Scheib won her fifth giant slalom of the season in Are to secure the overall giant slalom title for the first time with American Mikaela Shiffrin finishing off the podium on Saturday.
Shiffrin was on pace for a blistering first run before making a significant mistake at the bottom of the course.
The American still managed a fifth-place finish after the second run allowing her to maintain a comfortable lead in the overall World Cup standings over Germany’s Emma Aicher, who finished fourth in Are.
While Shiffrin will have to wait to find out if she has secured her sixth overall title, Scheib was able to celebrate wildly in the finish area.
The 27-year-old Austrian, who had never won a World Cup race before this winter, is now guaranteed the overall giant slalom title.
Second in the first run, she saw her main rival Swiss Camille Rast crash out in the second run after making a mistake.
Second place went to American Paula Moltzan, 0.36 seconds behind Scheib, with New Zealander Alice Robinson third at 0.75sec.
Scheib now has a 189-point lead over Rast, with only one race remaining, the Lillehammer finale in a week, with a maximum of 100 points up for grabs.
Shiffrin finished 2.22sec behind in fifth having managed to limit the damage after placing 12th in the first run.
Solid in the second run, the skier from Vail, Colorado, ultimately finished just behind her last remaining rival in the overall standings, Germany’s Emma Aicher, who was fourth, 1.74 seconds back.
The gap between the two skiers is now 120 points.
Italy’s Federica Brignone, who achieved a magnificent double in Cortina by winning both the Super-G and Giant Slalom at the Winter Olympics, was not present in Are, having decided in early March to end her season, which has been disrupted by the after-effects of her serious left leg injury sustained in April 2025.
