Mikaela Shiffrin wins record-tying 6th World Cup skiing title

HAFJELL, Norway — Mikaela Shiffrin secured a record-tying sixth women’s overall World Cup skiing title by holding off a challenge from emerging German rival Emma Aicher in the final race of the season Wednesday.

Shiffrin needed only to finish in the top 15 of a giant slalom and the American standout secured that before Aicher even began her second run.

Shiffrin finished 11th and Aicher — who needed to win the race and hope that Shiffrin finished 16th or worse to clinch her first title — finished 12th.

“It’s quite emotional,” Shiffrin said. “This thing sums up a whole season of work and fighting with the whole team and I have to say to Emma that her skiing has been just outstanding and today it was just so cool to watch her, especially on the first run.

“I think the outcome of this day is that she can do this. And I think that’s the coolest thing about ski racing — that anything is possible,” Shiffrin added.

Shiffrin was only 17th after the first run but came down in first position in the second and then clinched it when the next two starters placed behind her.

After being told it was over, Shiffrin dropped to her knees, put her right hand to her face and appeared to be in tears as she asked her team, “Are you sure?”

Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, Shiffrin’s fiancé and the 2020 overall champion, was with her.

Aicher put the pressure on by skiing into third during the first run. But then the German made a major mistake early in her second run and lost all her speed.

“I had many moments where I thought, ‘Emma can win this race and I might not make points,'” Shiffrin said. “I’m very grateful right now because I think this could go differently.”

Shiffrin, 31, matched Austrian downhill great Annemarie Moser-Pröll, who won her six titles in the 1970s.

Moser-Pröll won five straight titles from 1971-75 then a sixth in 1979. Shiffrin won three straight from 2017-19, then back-to-back titles in 2022 and ’23.

Lindsey Vonn is third on the women’s list with four overall titles.

Marcel Hirscher leads the men’s list with eight overall titles.

It has been another stellar season for Shiffrin, who claimed the third Olympic gold of her career by dominating the slalom at the Milan Cortina Games.

Shiffrin also won nine of the 10 World Cup slaloms this season and has a record 110 victories across all disciplines — by far the most in the World Cup by any man or woman. Ingemar Stenmark is next best with 86 wins in the 1970s and ’80s.

And Shiffrin isn’t done yet.

“I’m ready for another season — or maybe not yet — but I’m excited to keep ski racing,” she said.

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.