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March 22, 2015

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Third straight WCup slalom title for Shiffrin

MIKAELA Shiffrin clinched her third straight World Cup slalom title in style yesterday with a victory at the season-ending finals in Meribel, France.

Shiffrin, the Olympic and two-time world slalom champion, beat her only remaining challenger Frida Hansdotter of Sweden by 0.05 seconds to win her sixth race of the season and fifth in slalom.

The 20-year-old American had a commanding 90-point lead over Hansdotter going into the race, but stayed true to her attacking style.

Slovakia’s Veronika Velez Zuzulova placed third and Slovenia’s Tina Maze was fourth, picking up valuable points in her quest for the overall title.

She is 18 points ahead of defending champion Anna Fenninger, who is not a slalom specialist and finished 23rd.

The 31-year-old Maze finished third in the slalom standings — 240 points adrift of Shiffrin. The 25-year-old Fenninger has only one career top-20 finish in slalom, but decided to race yesterday to try to gain a few vital points, although the Austrian failed to score any.

The women’s title will be decided in today’s giant slalom — and pits world champion Fenninger against Olympic champion Maze. Fenninger is also trying to defend her GS crystal globe, and leads countrywoman Eva-Maria Brem by 86 points ahead of today’s race.

Meanwhile, Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen won the men’s giant slalom race at the season-ending World Cup finals in convincing style, while Austria’s Marcel Hirscher took a step closer to clinching the overall title after placing fourth.

Kristoffersen led Germany’s Fritz Dopfer by 0.08 seconds after the first run and dominated the second to finish 0.79 seconds ahead of him and 0.97 clear of Frenchman Thomas Fanara, who was fourth in the morning.

The 26-year-old Hirscher, who was sixth after the first run, is contesting the World Cup title with Norway’s Kjetil Jansrud, who placed 11th.

Jansrud won the downhill and super-G titles this season, but has never made the podium in a slalom race. Hirscher has already sealed the GS title and is 60 points ahead of Jansrud overall.




 

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