The very last race day of the 2025/26 World Cup season may well have been one of the most emotional and also thrilling of this winter with several top racers aiming for victories, glory and crystal globes till the end, and with so many surprises occurring during both races.
Shiffrin secures the big globe
In the women's giant slalom, US star Mikaela Shiffrin had to fight harder than expected to secure her sixth big overall globe as her last rival, Germany's Emma Aicher, was able to keep strong pressure on her until the final minutes of the race dominated by Canada's Valerie Grenier. With this performance, Mikaela equaled Austrian skiing legend Annemarie Moser Proell, the great dominator of the 1970s.
A nervous battle until the very end
A similar tense scenario took place on the men's side with both Lucas Pinheiro Braathen and his childhood friend Atle Lie McGrath struggling to fully control their nerves in the last decisive slalom, captured by Norway's Timon Haugan. Despite his modest final 8th place, 1.79 seconds behind Haugan, Atle could successfully defend his lead in the slalom standings as Lucas straddled a gate at the beginning of his second run while charging for victory and another crystal globe.
Shiffrin responds under pressure
After the first leg, Shiffrin's chances for another overall World Cup title were suddenly less obvious than in the morning, when she entered the competition with an advantage of 85 points. The slalom expert had only clocked the 17th best time while Emma was an excellent third, only a few hundredths of a second behind leader Grenier.
Since only the best 15 classified racers receive points, there was still a slim but real chance that an incredible scenario could cost Shiffrin the overall title. Fortunately for the 31-year-old from Vail, she remained focused and relaxed to produce a clean second run, moving up among the top 15 and securing the globe.
Aicher gave her best to end the season on a high note, yet a big mistake in the middle of the final run cost her too much time to remain among the top three. She ended in 12th place, just behind Shiffrin.
An emotional sixth overall title
"This was another tough day for me, I'm happy I was able to have enough energy in me to react well in the afternoon. Emma has been a great rival this season," Mikaela said afterwards. "I greatly admire her skills to shine in all specialties and to show such a relaxed attitude on course," the American added.
Mikaela Shiffrin had to wait three years to capture another big globe and overcome many tough moments related to serious injuries and crashes. "I would not be enjoying this day without the support and help from my team and family. I went through many hard days," she also explained, referring to her accidents at Cortina d'Ampezzo and Killington, where she suffered a deep puncture while falling badly in a giant slalom in November 2024. She had to wait several months that winter before returning to snow.
Grenier wins as Holtmann delights the home crowd
This exciting duel cast a small shadow over the great performances of the other racers battling for victory in front of a large crowd, very pleased by the result of local hero Mona Fürst Holtmann, second at only 43/100 from the winner of the day, while GS globe winner Julia Scheib was third at half a second to collect her eighth top-three result, including five victories.
Grenier had been looking forward to competing at Hafjell, where she clinched a bronze medal at the 2015 Junior FIS World Championships. It was her third win on the circuit after two impressive triumphs at Kranjska Gora a few years ago. Her season had been quite disappointing after grabbing an encouraging third place in early December at Mont Tremblant on home snow.
"I felt really motivated today and ready to go for it on this slope, which brought me my first international success. It's very important to me after the difficult times I faced in recent years," Valerie told the press after her race.
Haugan wins the race, McGrath wins the globe
In the spectacular men's slalom too, one group of favorites focused on winning the race while another was concentrated on the battle for the slalom globe.
Third after the first run behind Swiss skier Loic Meillard, the two-time winner here last year, and defending 2025 slalom World Cup champion Henrik Kristoffersen, Timon Haugan produced an outstanding second run that put him out of reach of his rivals. Meillard came in second, as in Saturday's GS, while Finland's Eduard Hallberg was a strong third.
It was Haugan's second win of the season after Val d'Isère, despite being hampered by back pain this winter. He had narrowly missed the podium on other occasions, especially at Bormio where he missed third place by only a few hundredths.
Braathen falls short, McGrath breaks through
"It was everything or nothing for me today, I was ready to risk everything and it's wonderful that it came out so well at the same time that Atle captured the globe," Haugan commented afterwards. "A victory on home snow is also very special, it's the dream of each of us."
Lucas Pinheiro Braathen applied the same strategy in his second run, yet without the same success as he soon straddled a gate in a narrow right turn. He missed a great chance of getting another crystal globe at Hafjell, as a top performance would have helped him score enough points to pass his friend McGrath in the slalom standings. At that point Atle Lie was clearly behind the leaders and at risk of losing precious points.
Tears, relief and a dream fulfilled
A three-time winner in recent months, Atle Lie McGrath had a tough time understanding that he had won the precious globe he had dreamed of for so long.
He had tears in his eyes during his post-race interviews after being warmly hugged by Lucas. "This is too much for me, the past month has been a horrible roller coaster for me with the death of my beloved grandfather in February and my loss at Bormio," he said. "I was so tense these days, I couldn't eat or sleep properly and didn't manage to ski properly today," he added.
"I know my grandfather is watching me now from above and sharing my joy. This crystal trophy represented my greatest dream since I was a kid," Atle also said. "It's a very prestigious award for a specialist."
A season to remember
The Norwegian won the slalom globe ahead of France's Clément Noël, fifth today, and Pinheiro Braathen. Henrik Kristoffersen, fourth in this final race, also finished fourth in the standings, yet his season was positive with several strong results, including his win at Schladming and his third place at Bormio 2026.
The 60th World Cup season will be remembered for many remarkable races and victories, including the fifth overall World Cup title of Swiss star Marco Odermatt, who remained the skier to beat throughout the season. Norway successfully hosted its third Alpine Finals after those of 1996 and 2003. Interestingly enough, most of the racers present at Kvitfjell and Hafjell hope to return soon for more exciting competitions.
