Emma Aicher has postponed the decision in the overall World Cup again. With Mikaela Shiffrin (USA)’s dominant victory in the last slalom of the season, the two-time Olympic silver medalist once again reached the winner’s podium in third place.
Emma Aicher and Mikaela Shiffrin hugged each other warmly. The decision in the battle for the overall World Cup will only be made in the last race of this dramatic ski season.
The young Germans’ chances had dropped to a minimum before the final giant slalom on Wednesday, but Aicher didn’t have to feel like a loser. The 22-year-old said she was “quite happy” with her idea.
Aicher finished third in Shiffrin’s dominant victory in the Hafjell slalom and now goes into the last competition of the winter 85 points behind the US superstar.
The calculation is simple: Aicher can only turn the tide if she wins and Shiffrin doesn’t score.
Furious comeback since the Olympics
Since she has never made it onto the podium in the giant slalom in her career, her prospects are rather poor. But that shouldn’t tarnish the dazzling overall impression that Aicher made this season.
Two silver medals at the Olympics, three World Cup victories: Aicher has blossomed from a small skiing jewel into a big German alpine star this winter.
The fact that she has been able to reduce the gap to Shiffrin in the overall World Cup since the games in Italy in February can hardly be given enough credit to the daughter of a German and a Swede.
Just race faster than Shiffrin
Shiffrin felt her pursuer’s breath, but now showed her nerves again in her parade discipline. The American won in Norway with a lead of 1.32 seconds over the Swiss Wendy Holdener. Aicher was 1.36 seconds behind, her teammate Lena Dürr was 17th even 3.74 seconds behind.
For Shiffrin it was the 110th World Cup victory of her career – and the ninth in the tenth slalom this season. She also won Olympic gold in Cortina d’Ampezzo. She was only beaten by the Swiss world champion Camille Rast in a slalom run in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, at the beginning of January.
Shiffrin had secured the ninth crystal ball in her flagship discipline for weeks. If Aicher doesn’t pull off a skiing miracle in the giant slalom on Wednesday, the 31-year-old Shiffrin will also win the overall World Cup for the sixth time. This would bring her level with the Austrian record holder Annemarie Moser-Pröll, who caused a sensation in the 1970s.
Aicher wants to “have fun” at the showdown
Aicher went into the final slalom of the winter 45 points behind. The first run felt a bit “sluggish,” she said. She “had a hard time” on the soft slope. She coped better in the second round and pushed Paula Moltzan (USA) off the podium.
Shiffrin was once again in a class of her own in the slalom, in which she has won four World Cup gold medals in addition to her two Olympic gold medals. The exceptional athlete from the US state of Colorado explained that she had a “great feeling on the skis” right from the start.
But she doesn’t feel safe looking at the big crystal ball yet, says Shiffrin. She said it was an honor to race against such a strong all-rounder.
Will Aicher strike back again? “I’m happy, no matter how it ends,” she told ORF before the showdown. “I can ski and have fun.”
