Mikaela Shiffrin Closes Out World Cup Season With Second Place In Giant Slalom

Mikaela Shiffrin takes 2nd place during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Women's Slalom on March 20, 2021 in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

Mikaela Shiffrin finished strong with a second-place finish Sunday in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, in giant slalom to close out a difficult and unusual season on the world cup circuit. 
Shiffrin pushed hard to finish the season with a win, leading after the first run by .77 seconds over 19-year-old Alice Robinson of New Zealand. But the teenager turned the table on the double Olympic gold medalist in the second run, finishing .28 seconds ahead of Shiffrin, who was .20 seconds ahead of Meta Hrovat of Slovakia. Italy’s Marta Bassino, who had already locked up the giant slalom world cup title, ran seventh. Shiffrin was able to vault into second place, matching her performance from 2019-20. 
The end of that season marked the beginning of a difficult period for Shiffrin, starting with the sudden loss of her father Jeff in February 2020. Shiffrin was out of racing for nearly a year, then returned to a sport rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic while also dealing with a back injury suffered in preseason training. Shiffrin won three events and landed on the podium 10 times, competing only in slalom and giant slalom. And at February’s world championships, she won four medals, including her first career gold medal in combined. The world championships seemed to be a turning point in her season, as Shiffrin didn’t miss a world cup podium in March.
The relatively lighter schedule for Shiffrin could be something she employs next season as well as she manages her back injury while preparing for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, saying in a virtual press conference before the season’s final world cup: “Hopefully I'll be able to manage preparation throughout the summer and be able to roll through the Olympics without having to adjust the schedule. But we might have to, and that might be something that we would play it as it comes.”