Mikaela Shiffrin ends season with record 21st giant slalom win

SOLDEU, Andorra — Mikaela Shiffrin won her 21st career giant slalom at Sunday’s World Cup final as the American ended the season with another record.

The win put Shiffrin past Vreni Schneider, a week after she reached the Swiss skier’s mark of 20 World Cup giant slalom victories. The American has won seven of the last eight events and clinched the world title in giant slalom last month.

The overall record between men and women is held by the great Swede Ingemar Stenmark, who won 46 giant slaloms in the 1970s and 1980s.

Shiffrin clinched the overall, slalom and giant slalom titles that season and extended the all-time record for most career wins to 88.

On Sunday, Shiffrin also posted a personal best of 2,206 World Cup points from 31 starts this season, two points more than her tally from 2018-19 when she competed in 26 races.

Only one skier has accumulated more points in a single season: world-class Slovenian Tina Maze finished her 2012-13 season with 2,414 points.

In glorious sunshine on the Avet track, Shiffrin maintained her lead from heat one, relegating Thea Louise Stjernesund by 0.06 seconds. The Norwegian took her first podium of her career.

Canadian skier Valerie Grenier was third, 0.20 seconds behind Shiffrin.

Three of the top seven racers didn’t finish their first runs as Petra Vlhova, who won Saturday’s slalom, Federica Brignone and Olympic champion Sara Hector all missed a goal.

Two-time former world champion Tessa Worley finished 11th in what she said was the last race of her career. The French giant slalom specialist has won 16 races and three titles this season, most recently last year.