Mikaela Shiffrin wins slalom to take World Cup title fight to final day

Mikaela Shiffrin has won the World Cup slalom in Hafjell to ensure the battle for the overall title against Emma Aicher goes down to Wednesday’s final race.

The American superstar claimed her ninth victory in 10 slalom starts this season by a massive 1.32 seconds ahead of Wendy Holdener.

That dominant triumph earned the Olympic champion 100 crucial points in the race for the overall crown.

However, Germany’s Aicher secured an impressive third-place finish to keep the standings gap below the 100-point threshold.

Record-tying sixth title in sight

The 29-year-old will start Wednesday’s season-ending giant slalom holding an 85-point advantage over her closest rival.

Aicher must now secure a victory to deny the lightning-fast skier a women’s record-tying sixth overall championship.

The odds remain heavily stacked in favour of the current standings leader.

Her young challenger has never won a World Cup giant slalom event.

Aicher’s career-best finish in the discipline remains a fourth place achieved earlier this month in Are, Sweden.

Historic milestone awaits

A top-15 result on Wednesday will be enough to guarantee the American secures the 16 points needed to seal the championship independently.

Swiss skier Holdener inadvertently provided a vital assist by edging into second place by just 0.04 seconds.

That narrow margin kept 20 valuable World Cup points off her German opponent’s tally.

Tuesday’s triumph marked a staggering 110th career race win for the former Olympic gold medallist.

Securing the overall crown would see her match Austrian downhill great Annemarie Moser-Pröll’s long-standing women’s World Cup record.