Mikaela Shiffrin dominated the final World Cup slalom race before the 2026 Winter Olympics, winning by 1.67 seconds to secure her ninth season title in the discipline. The American skier's victory in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, marks her 108th career World Cup win and solidifies her status as the favorite for Olympic gold. This achievement makes her the first skier to claim nine titles in a single discipline.
On January 25, 2026, in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic—the site of her World Cup debut at age 15—Mikaela Shiffrin delivered a commanding performance in the women's slalom. She posted the fastest time in both runs, finishing in 1 minute, 37.59 seconds overall, ahead of Switzerland's Camille Rast by 1.67 seconds. Germany's Emma Aicher took third place, more than two seconds behind Shiffrin.
This win, her seventh in eight slaloms this season, clinched the crystal globe for slalom with two races remaining, giving her an insurmountable 288-point lead over Rast. Shiffrin now holds a record nine season titles in the discipline, surpassing the eight downhill globes won by teammate Lindsey Vonn and the eight slalom titles by Ingemar Stenmark. Her 71 slalom victories and 108 overall World Cup wins are records for men and women combined.
The victory followed a third-place finish in giant slalom the previous day, Shiffrin's first podium in that event in two years after a November 2024 injury. Reflecting on the milestone, Shiffrin said, “It’s actually hard to think about that today because there was so much to think about on the race course. So now it’s like a nice surprise.”
Looking ahead to the Milan Cortina Olympics, where she plans to compete in slalom, giant slalom, and team combined, Shiffrin tempered expectations. “At the Olympics is a totally different challenge,” she noted, recalling golds in slalom (2014) and giant slalom (2018), but struggles in 2022 when she failed to finish her technical events. “I’ve had great Olympics, I’ve had tough Olympics, I try to go in with an open mind, good spirit, trusting my team.”
The women's World Cup circuit heads to Crans-Montana, Switzerland, next weekend for the final pre-Olympic races: downhill and super-G.
