Reigning Olympic and double world champion Mikaela Shiffrin won a third consecutive World Cup slalom title on Saturday, a third crystal globe for the US team at the season-ending finals.
The 20-year-old stood in second position behind Sweden's Frida Hansdotter after the first leg, but laid down a near-flawless second run to clock a combined total of 1min 34.08sec for first place, 0.05sec ahead of the Swede.
The 100 points Shiffrin amassed left her 110pts clear of Hansdotter atop the slalom standings after the two legs raced in double-digit temperatures with rapidly deteriorating snow in overcast conditions.
Shiffrin's third slalom globe matched that of Croatian Janica Kostelic, with only Swiss duo Vreni Schneider (6) and Erika Hess (5), and Austrian Marlies Schild (4) having won more.
The American's success came fast on the heels of teammate Lindsey Vonn, who secured the downhill and super-G crystal globes earlier in the week.
"Frida has been pushing me hard all season, she's been skiing so fast and I really had to give it my all in the second run to get the win today," said Shiffrin, who made her debut on the World Cup circuit in 2012 at the age of 16.
"When I hit the flat section I had a good feeling, but knew I had to give it everything I had if I wanted to win and luckily it worked out."
Slovenian allrounder Tina Maze added yet more spice to the thrilling race for the overall World Cup title by finishing fourth behind Slovakian Veronika Velez Zuzulova.
Maze netted 50pts to leapfrog Austrian archrival Anna Fenninger, who could only finish 23rd in the slalom, into first place on 1,471pts.
Fenninger is not a traditional slalom skier, her last appearance in the discipline coming in December 2011, but she decided to race to put some pressure on Maze in the hope of making the top 15 to score some points.
Just 18pts separates the duo, with only Sunday's giant slalom to come, defending overall and giant slalom champion Fenninger having been the outstanding skier in the discipline this season.
Shiffrin could leapfrog Vonn into third place overall in the giant slalom, the 19-globe veteran sitting just 42pts ahead of the younger racer.
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