Shiffrin gets 101st win; Ljutic and Krisoffersen clinch last trophies
USA's Mikaela Shiffrin competes in the Women's Slalom event of the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Saalbach. Jens Büttner/dpa
Mikaela Shiffrin produced another slalom masterclass to claim a 101st career victory in front of an American home crowd, while 10th place was enough for Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic to clinch the discipline title on Thursday.
Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen then denied Switzerland a sweep of all men's World Cup trophies when he claimed the slalom title by placing third in the season-ender won by compatriot Timon Haugan in Sun Valley.
Advertisement
Shiffrin dominates, Ljutic also celebrates
Shiffrin won by a massive 1.13 seconds over German Lena Dürr. Andreja Slokar of Slovenia rose from eighth to third in the final women's race of the season, another one-hundredths back.
Three-time season winner Ljutic prevailed in the race for the discipline title, winning her first trophy 32 points from Austrian Katharina Liensberger and 49 from Swiss world champion Camille Rast.
Liensberger was fifth on Thursday and Rast 14th.
"I got it, it's mine. I sort of knew I would win it. I just didn't know how," said Ljutic who follows in the footsteps of famed compatriot Janica Kostelic, who won the slalom World Cup three times.
Advertisement
"I will maybe get drunk for the first time in my life," she said.
Shiffrin managed fourth place in the standings with the help of four victories, just 55 points off Ljutic although she missed four of the 10 slaloms - and races in other disciplines - due to an abdominal injury she sustained in late November.
The American ski queen was out of action for two months which also cost her a shot at another overall title. But she became the first ever skier to win 100 races last month in Sestriere, Italy, and her now 157 podiums are also a record.
Thursday's victory put her over 500 points in the overall standings which will assure her of good bib numbers in the giant slalom next season.
Advertisement
"It was a spectacular day but in the end I could focus on the important things, the things that make me strong. It was a wonderful day," Shiffrin told Austrian broadcasters ORF.
Norwegian joy
Haugan got his third career victory three-hundredths of a second ahead of French Olympic champion Clement Noel and .37 from Kristoffersen.
That gave Kristoffersen the slalom title for the fourth time in his career, nine years after the first, 52 points ahead of Swiss world champion Loic Meillard and 53 clear of Haugan.
Meillard placed fifth on the day which was not enough to leapfrog Kristoffersen and complete a Swiss men's trophy sweep, after Marco Odermatt had won the other four: overall, downhill, super-g and giant slalom.
Advertisement
"It was tough. Congratulations to Timon, to Loic and Clement for a great season," Kristoffersen said.
"Days like these are hell, to be honest. I don't know how long I can keep going," he added. "The first one was nine years ago, that's not too bad, but it doesn't get any easier."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
31 minutes ago
- New York Times
What's going on with USMNT? Plus: Players to watch at Club World Cup
The Athletic FC ⚽ is The Athletic's daily football (or soccer, if you prefer) newsletter. Sign up to receive it directly to your inbox. Hello! Mauricio Pochettino was sold the American dream. His USMNT are having a nightmare. We're trying to get our heads around it. 🥵 Poch feels the heat 🏀 NBA, NFL bids for EPL club 📡 The Club World Cup Radar 👀 Totti's long-range belter 'I'm the guilty one here,' said Mauricio Pochettino, which made a change from apportioning blame to the players around him. Nothing has epitomised the awkward coupling between the USMNT and their new head coach quite like him digging out his squad at regular intervals. But Pochettino's mea culpa after Tuesday's 4-0 mauling by Switzerland was a variation on a recurring theme: that his collaboration with the U.S. has started badly, or taken longer than it should have done to take off. Don't forget, this was supposed to be U.S. Soccer getting serious and making the national team all they could be at the 2026 World Cup. It paid big to pluck Poch from the uppermost club coaching bracket. Advertisement So what's going on? Some mitigation before anything else. Pochettino's pool of players for the past week of friendlies has been weaker than normal. Certain mainstays such as Christian Pulisic and Sergino Dest are resting, and fringe names were rotated in on Tuesday. The fitness of his squad has been so temperamental he must think a clean bill of health is something that only happens for other coaches. His record over 10 games, though, is concerning: five wins and five defeats, with four of those losses in his past four matches. He fumbled the fixtures which really mattered, at the Concacaf Nations League, and he'll be bailing water if the confederation's Gold Cup — starting this Sunday — goes wrong, too. It took a mere six months for USMNT godfather Bruce Arena to imply that the Argentine was a poor choice. The Athletic's Paul Tenorio made me chuckle when he wrote in yesterday's TAFC: 'The honeymoon is over and a marriage counsellor is on retainer.' The trouble is that when you watch Poch's side, it's not easy to spot a fluent style forming, or dependable patterns of play. To wit: they Americans are no more potent than they were on the day Gregg Berhalter was fired last July. Just to branch off on a tangent for a second: across international football as a whole, we might be seeing evidence that switching from club jobs to a national team's technical area is trickier than it sounds. The crossover is in vogue, but how wise a ploy is it? England are furrowing Thomas Tuchel's brow. Germany have been ordinary under Julian Nagelsmann. Carlo Ancelotti isn't a sure-fire cure for Brazil's mediocrity. In reality, international coaching offers little scope to implement a detailed, tactical plan over a finite period. Training sessions are too few. Perhaps that's why associations went through a phase of banking on pragmatic types already working for them in another position, often coaching an age-group team; England did it with Gareth Southgate, Spain with Luis de la Fuente and Argentina with Lionel Scaloni. Advertisement There's an added complication for Pochettino, and one which is largely out of his control. The USMNT is not awash with world-class talent. Pulisic is as close as it gets but it surely says something that the cream of the crop in European club football aren't spending to sign him. It's concerning — if not surprising — that fatigue will see him sit out the Gold Cup entirely. The U.S. roster has its limits. That much is obvious. As Paul writes, the requisite depth is not there. But they should be, and have to be, better than this. 'If you want to criticise me, go ahead,' Pochettino said on Tuesday, and that grumbling could mount internally as well as externally at this rate. Because the World Cup is huge, it's predominantly on home soil next time, it's arriving soon and it will be many, many years before it comes around again. Somewhere in the not-so-distant future, FIFA will announce ticket prices for next year's World Cup finals. A handful are up for grabs already — corporate bargains at $73,500 a head, for example — but general-sale costs are still being finalised. The World Cup is a far bigger event than FIFA's Club World Cup (CWC), the revamped version of which starts in the U.S. on Saturday. But in Adam Crafton's overview of all of the things which need sorting for summer 2026, ticket sales are as intriguing as anything — because the CWC is failing to capture the imagination. The world governing body is offering students five tickets for $20 for the first game in Miami this weekend (down from $349 shortly after the group-stage draw in December). Realistically, it wouldn't be doing that if a) punters were queuing up to be there and b) it wasn't concerned about television cameras showing stacks of empty seats. Broadcast rights to this event set DAZN back $1bn after all. Advertisement On TV, the equivalent of two thirds of the globe's population will watch the 2026 World Cup. That audience is assured. But on the ground? It will sell better, sure, but were common sense to prevail, the take-up for the CWC should have some influence on FIFA's plans for next year. Don't hold your breath. One of the highlights of The Athletic's coverage of any tournament is always The Radar. Published before the games begin, it's our tactical, who's-who bible. You'll find Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe et all in today's Club World Cup breakdown but the real treats are the lesser-known profiles, like that of Auckland City's Dylan Manickum. He's a 32-year-old whose working life combines semi-pro football and, incredibly, full-time employment as an engineer. Beyond him, look out for River Plate's 17-year-old Franco Mastantuono. The precocious midfielder broke Lionel Messi's record as the youngest debutant in a competitive match for Argentina, and he's most likely off to Real Madrid soon. Also, a shout out to Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper Ronwen Williams. Last year, he was the first Africa-based 'keeper to be shortlisted for the Yashin Trophy, awarded annually to the world's best. Williams has the knack of reading penalties (below) and if Sundowns make any sort of splash, they'll likely be indebted to their main man. It's been one of those weeks for Italy's national team; one of those weeks they have from time to time. Who can rescue them from the hole they have dug for themselves? What about Francesco Totti, the drop-dead-gorgeous 2006 World Cup winner? He's 48 years old now but the force remains strong, as shown by him casually finishing from halfway in an old-boys' game over the weekend. In October, he talked (semi-seriously) about coming out of retirement. Let's get it on.
American Press
39 minutes ago
- American Press
Juneteenth Freedom Festival celebrates community, culture
The Juneteenth Freedom Festival parade will start at the MLK Recreation Center, head south on Simmons Street, turn onto Opelousas, loop through Goss Boulevard and return back to the center. Lineup is at 8 a.m. and the parade will begin at 11 a.m. (Special to the American Press) Juneteenth — short for June 19 — is an annual celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. The history of the holiday dates back to June 19, 1865, when federal soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, to ensure slaves were freed in accordance with the Emancipation Proclamation. 'Every other county, every other city in the United States at that time was aware that slavery had ended except for the people of Galveston, Texas,' said Dianna Ross, director of the Juneteenth Freedom Festival. Southwest Louisiana is invited to celebrate — and learn — about this important period of history during the four-day Juneteenth Freedom Festival scheduled for next week. 'What Juneteenth actually symbolizes is the strength and resiliency of Black Americans,' Ross said. 'For all the things our ancestors have gone through, we celebrate them because without their resilience and their endurance many of us wouldn't be here today.' Ross said like any other culture and ethnicity, 'there is a sense of pride in who we are, what we've accomplished in this country, what we've contributed to this country and we want that to be celebrated.' The Juneteenth Festival is about freedom, unity and peace, she said. The festival will kick off with the Fit Family Olympics 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday, June 16, at the MLK Recreation Center, 2009 Simmons St. 'This is our first year and the idea is to bring families together — black, white, green it doesn't matter,' Ross said. 'We want them to play and fellowship.' The Olympics will include sack races, tug of war, hula hoops, jump ropes and obstacle courses. More than 270 children who participate in Ward 3 Recreation Center sports have signed up to attend. On Tuesday, senior bingo will start at 10 a.m. at the MLK Recreation Center. Games, food and prizes are planned. A screening of 'Black Panther' is scheduled for dusk on Wednesday at the MLK Recreation Center's baseball field. Vendors will arrive at 4 p.m. and patrons can start shopping at 4:30 p.m. 'People will be able to come out and enjoy the marketplace before the movie, and we'll have a kids zone and free popcorn,' Ross said. The final day of the festival will begin with a parade that starts at the center, heads south on Simmons Street, turns onto Opelousas, loops through Goss Boulevard and returns back to the center. Lineup is at 8 a.m. and the parade will begin at 11 a.m. After the parade, participants are invited to the Lake Charles Event Center for the second annual Sauce Picante Cook-Off. Entry fees are $100 and the winner will receive a 15-gallon cast iron sauce pot valued at $700. Doors open at 1 p.m. and the cook-off begins at 3 p.m. The festival will conclude with Family Day concerts from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. inside the coliseum. Performers include Connie Major, Jarius Daigle, Ashley Montegut, Angel Purdy, Harold Guillory, Marcus and Breanne Davis, Jeremy Benoit, Nebu Neezy, Keyun and the Zydeco Masters and Rusty Metoyer and the Zydeco Crush. 'We should all be in unity together as a community and this is a chance to do that,' Ross said.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Back-to-back matches to be introduced in revamped Women's Six Nations
A revamped Guinness Women's Six Nations will feature back-to-back matches on a single day in each round during the 2026 tournament. The 'Super Saturday' style format has been introduced to 'deliver the best possible fan experience' and 'optimise the audience of fans tuning in around the world'. Advertisement Reigning champions England will launch their title defence on Saturday, April 11 against Ireland at Allianz Stadium Twickenham. Perennial runners-up France will host Italy in the opening match earlier that day before Scotland travel to Wales in the third game. Competition will conclude with a 'Super Sunday' on May 17, with England scheduled to visit France for a potential title decider in the final fixture. The Red Roses, who have won seven Six Nations titles in a row and are preparing for this year's home World Cup, will take on Scotland in round two on April 18 at Scottish Gas Murrayfield. Advertisement John Mitchell's side will then host Wales a week later before travelling to Italy in round four on May 9. The tournament will begin four weeks after the final weekend of the men's championship, having previously started a week later. 'The new approach to the schedule has been built to deliver the best possible fan experience for those attending fixtures, and through collaboration between unions and broadcasters to meet and optimise the audience of fans tuning in around the world,' read a statement from organisers. 'Following Rugby World Cup 2025 in England later this year, and with interest for the women's game anticipated to be at an all-time high, the opportunity in front of women's rugby is huge, and as the biggest annual event in the women's rugby calendar, the Guinness Women's Six Nations is in pole position to drive momentum.'
