25 March 2026

(Un)predictable Finale

In the women's World Cup, it is rare for the fate of the Big Crystal Globe to be decided only during the final run at the season finale. But today is exactly such a case.

Before the race, it seemed that Emma Aicher had lost her chance of winning the overall World Cup yesterday, when Mikaela won the slalom. Before today's race, Mikaela had a comfortable lead of 85 points over Emma Aicher. But the first run of the giant slalom in Hafjell made the world's most decorated alpine skier nervous. After the first run, Mikaela was in 17th place, 1.55 seconds behind the leader and just under that behind Emma, who unexpectedly, even to herself, posted the third-fastest time. Of course, to take the World Cup, the German needs to win. Even if she finishes second or third, and even if Mikaela scores no points at all by finishing 16th or 17th - which is hard to believe - Shiffrin will still win the World Cup. Nevertheless, the suspense remains - at the World Cup finale, points are awarded only to the first 15 athletes.

As for the first run, Canada's Valerie Grenier posted the fastest time, with Sara Hector just 0.02 seconds behind. Emma Aicher was 0.26 seconds behind the Canadian and in third place. They were followed by Mina Fürst Holtmann, Julia Scheib, Stephanie Brunner and Camille Rast.

Women's Alpine Skiing World Cup. Lillehammer (Norway)
Giant slalom. Results after the first run.

1	15	Valerie Grenier	Canada	1:07.90	+0.00
2	3	Sara Hector	Sweden	1:07.92	+0.02
3	16	Emma Aicher	Germany	1:08.16	+0.26
4	20	Mina Fürst Holtmann	Norway	1:08.37	+0.47
4	5	Julia Scheib	Austria	1:08.37	+0.47
6	18	Stephanie Brunner	Austria	1:08.57	+0.67
7	4	Camille Rast	Switzerland	1:08.67	+0.77
8	13	Nina O'Brien	USA	1:08.72	+0.82
9	23	Vanessa Kasper	Switzerland	1:08.91	+1.01
10	8	Zrinka Ljutic	Croatia	1:09.13	+1.23

It warmed up to +6°C in Hafjell. The second run was set by American team coach Alec Glebov.

Photo: footage from the SRF Sport television channel 14:09 25.03.26

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