This season ended on Thursday with the men’s and women’s slalom. The race was thrilling because the decision about the Crystal Globe winner came at the very end. Warm weather created difficult conditions to spice up the spectacle, even though the organizers tried to retain the regularity of the track.
Women’s Slalom: Shiffrin´s Exhibition
There is no other way to describe it. Zrinka Ljutic (CRO), Katharina Liensberger (AUT), and Camille Rast (SUI) fought out their battle for the globe while Shiffrin was in a league of her own. She led by 0,59 seconds in front of Lena Duerr (GER) while Camille Rast and Katharina Liensberger waited for their chance to decide the battle in the second run.
The course set in both runs was rather conservative, not tricky or crazy. However, the terrain was melting underfoot, and the organizers counted minutes in the warm weather.
First to show us how it’s done in the second run was the young Slovenian Andrea Slokar, who would use this very last moment to finish the season with a bang. Her run was perfect, regardless of the bumps and ruts. She remained in the red chair until Lena Duerr deposed her. Thus, the Slovenian got her first podium as an end-of-season present. Mikaela Shiffrin did not disappoint; she built on her lead and won the competition with the second-fastest time in the second run.
The battle for the small Crystal Globe was fought in the lower positions. Zrinka Ljutic did not have a successful first run and thus had the advantage of a cleaner track in the second. She used it and got in front of Camille Rast, whose end-of-season form is much worse than her start-of-season form. Then Ljutic waited until Katharina Liensberger went down. The Austrian was charged and tried but made too many mistakes. And thus, the Crystal Globe went to the young Croatian.
Zrinka Ljutic is only 21 years old. This is her third full-time World Cup season. She brought the title to Croatia, the land of the Kostelic siblings, and surely, the Croatian team’s celebrations would be wild.
Men’s Slalom: The Swiss-Norwegian Battle
The first round belonged to the Norwegians. Timon Haugan was first, with Henrik Kristoffersen trailing in the third position. Clement Noel (FRA), whose chance of winning the title was slim after the many DNFs he got after the stunning start of the season, finished second. On the other hand, Loic Meillard, the most serious contender for the slalom title, did not like the course this time and failed to deliver a performance aligned with his stellar current form.
In the second run, Meillard remedied the first. His second run was precise, light, and fast. He did what he could and waited. His gap on the leader from the first run was too high for a victory, so it was up to Kristoffersen to deliver and grab the globe for himself. And he did. Being 0,23 seconds faster than Meillard was enough, but not easy considering Meillard’s performance. Kristoffersen, famed for showing his emotions, cried out with joy as he saw the results.
Then Fabio Gstrein was faster, claiming the third place, Clement Noel finished with a flurry and thus ended second, and Timon Haugan did not disappoint to claim a victory.
Although Clement Noel was happy with his result, his failure to defeat Haugan cost him a place on the slalom overall podium.
That belonged to Henrik Kristoffersen, Loic Meillard, and Timon Haugan. Thus, Marcel Hirscher, although working on his convalescence, could be happy with how the season ended. Two Van Deer skiers finished on the podium, which is not a small deed for such a young ski brand.
Thus, the season says farewell. We don’t. This weekend, we will bring you two more articles to wrap up the season.
