Follow us at @WorldSportCNN and like us on Facebook
Story highlights
Ted Ligety wins World Cup giant slalom at Kranjska Gora
Record sixth win in same discipline at same venue
Mikaela Shiffrin takes slalom event in Sweden
Wraps up World Cup title in slalom discipline
Ted Ligety and Mikaela Shiffrin continued to bask in the golden glow of Olympic triumph as the American pair recorded impressive World Cup victories Saturday in their specialist disciplines.
Ligety, who topped the giant slalom podium in Sochi, recorded his sixth victory at Kranjska Gora in Slovenia, the first man in World Cup history to achieve that feat at the same venue in the same discipline.
The 18-year-old Shiffrin made it four World Cup wins in slalom this season with a dominant victory at Are in Sweden.
It wrapped up the overall slalom title for Shiffrin, who becomes the first woman to win eight World Cup races before the age of 19.
She held off a trio of Swedes, Maria Pietilae-Holmner, Anna Swenn-Larsson and Frida Hansdotter over the two runs.
Read: Five moments to remember at the Sochi Games
“The second run was difficult but I was lucky to start when the sun came out and to have a better visibility. Anna and Maria had an amazing second run too, so that inspired me to go fast,” she told the official FIS website.
Ligety also had to protect a big lead from the first leg and came under pressure from Austrian veteran Benjamin Raich and Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway, who finished 0.18 and 0.25 seconds behind in second and third.
“This is definitely a really cool hill. It has so much personality and it’s really a fun hill to ski. It has the steep parts. It has some rolls. It has a little bit of a gliding section. So it’s a true GS skier’s hill,” the 29-year-old Ligety said.
Marcel Hirscher of Austria claimed fourth spot to maintain his 50-point lead over Ligety in the discipline’s overall standings ahead of the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide next weekend.
“I’m just skiing race to race and wins are always important even if they don’t go for the title,” Ligety said.
Defending champion Hirscher has also closed to 41 points behind Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway in the race for the overall title heading into the final round of racing.