Supreme Shiffrin slaloms to top of World Cup rankings

The day began with qualifying runs that saw the three-time world champion post the fastest time – stopping the clock in exactly 26 seconds.

Canada's Erin Mielzynski and home racer Adeline Baud Mugnier were the next fastest qualifiers, but no-one could get within 0.37s of America's Shiffrin.

The qualifiers also saw another strong performance from Great Britain's Alex Tilley, who followed up her career-best 13th in Tuesday's giant slalom, with 12th in the seeding run.

Shiffrin then eased past France's Coralie Frasse Sombet in the round of 32, before knocking Austria's Carmen Thalmann out in the last 16.

Another Austrian, Ricarda Haaser, was Shiffrin's next victim in the quarter-finals, before the American eliminated Italy's Irene Curtoni in the last four.

In the big final, Shiffrin took on Vlhova and was tested for the first time in the competition – but came through with just 0.04s to spare as the Slovak settled for silver.

The small final saw Curtoni take bronze as Norway's Maren Skjoeld failed to finish.

Those results leave Shiffrin alone at the top of the slalom World Cup standings ahead of Vlhova, with whom she had shared the lead following the pair both recording a win and second place in the first two races of the season.

Shiffrin also leads the overall Alpine World Cup standings on 721 points – 291 ahead of her nearest rival, Germany's Viktoria Rebensburg.

The slalom World Cup continues in Lienz, Austria, on December 29.

Sportsbeat 2017