{"id":1846856,"date":"2026-03-25T22:09:59","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T19:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1846856"},"modified":"2026-03-25T22:09:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T19:09:59","slug":"canadas-valerie-grenier-wins-in-hafjell-norway-as-shiffrin-secures-6th-overall-globe-in-dramatic-gs-finale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1846856","title":{"rendered":"Canada\u2019s Valerie Grenier Wins in Hafjell, Norway, as Shiffrin Secures 6th Overall Globe in Dramatic GS Finale"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Valerie Grenier wins the last GS race of the season. | Image: Rossignol Racing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A nailbiting final day of the women\u2019s World Cup Finals unfolded today, March 25, in Hafjell, Norway, with Canada\u2019s Valerie Grenier taking the win ahead of Norway\u2019s Mina F\u00fcrst Holtmann and Austria\u2019s Julia Scheib.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Further back, Mikaela Shiffrin battled back from 17th after run 1 to 11th place\u2014more than enough to secure her record-equalling sixth Overall Crystal Globe, matching Annemarie Moser-Pr\u00f6ll. <\/strong>But it did not come easy. Emma Aicher pushed the American all the way to the final run, making the season title, when fought so hard for, even sweeter.<\/p>\n

Run 1<\/h3>\n

The race was opened by Alice Robinson who skied a smooth run and set the pace at Hafjell with 1:09.28. <\/strong>Next up was Thea Louise Stjernesund skiing on home territory, who slotted in 0.18 seconds behind Robinson. For a moment it almost seemed like a competitive benchmark, but then came Sara Hector in bib 3, who delivered an incredible run that saw the Swede jump into the lead 1.53 seconds ahead of Robinson \u2014 there was the new mark to beat, and only one skier followed that call, Valerie Grenier, who pipped the Swede by a mere 0.02 seconds.<\/p>\n

But back to the starting order and the top 7 skiers: Camille Rast in bib 4 was fast on the top but bled time the rest of the course, falling 0.75 seconds behind Hector.<\/strong> Julia Scheib\u2014already holding the season GS crystal globe\u2014had admitted pre-race she was enjoying skiing without pressure. Still, she applied pressure to Hector regardless, leading mid-course but ultimately finishing 0.65 seconds behind. Paula Moltzan in bib 6 delivered an aggressive run but could not generate Hector\u2019s speed. Added to that, a mistake on the lower section after a roller she caught sideways sent her nearly four seconds behind \u2014 not the final the American had been hoping for. Her teammate Mikaela Shiffrin followed in bib 7. She was ahead on the top section but began bleeding time mid-course and struggled on the same roller as Moltzan, finishing 1.53 seconds back in 17th.<\/p>\n

At that point, the door to the overall season crystal globe was suddenly wide open\u2014and Emma Aicher charged through it. <\/strong>Skiing much further down the rankings in bib 16, Aicher delivered a smooth, controlled run to slot into third behind Hector and Grenier, putting herself firmly in contention for the overall title.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Team USA\u2019s Nina O\u2019Brien in bib 13 led the Americans in eighth place, with AJ Hurt in bib 21 in 15th \u2014 a great showcase of Team USA breadth in women\u2019s alpine skiing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The surprise of the day, however, came from Valerie Grenier in bib 15. Green from the first split, she extended her lead through each sector and handled the tricky roller with confidence, skiing into the lead by just 0.02 seconds \u2014 her best position in years.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Valerie Grenier on course at Hafjell. | Image: Rossignol Racing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Run 2<\/h3>\n

Run 2 in GS is conducted in reverse order, with the slowest finisher starting first and the fastest starting last, making for pressure and maximum excitement to the very end.<\/strong> Wendy Holdener\u2014who had lost a pole in run 1\u2014opened run 2 and delivered a much cleaner performance.\u00a0Moltzan put down the second-fastest run 2 of the day, showing her true pace, but could only move up to 25th after the big mistake on run 1.<\/p>\n

Her teammate Shiffrin, starting 11th, likewise responded under pressure.<\/strong> As she later said in a post-race interview with FIS, \u201cI was in 17th position after the first run\u2026 it was a lot of effort to push on the second.\u201d And push she did \u2014 she delivered a composed, fluid run to climb back into 11th place\u2014enough to secure the overall title. With 24 points for 11th place, the overall season globe was out of reach for Aicher, even with a win \u2014 however, this was not something anyone knew at this stage. Shiffrin admitted, \u201cI was actually quite stressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cI have really this crazy birth of emotions,\u201d she said after confirming the title. \u201cMy team said that\u2019s it and I was like, no it\u2019s not\u2026 we were kind of arguing about it and I was like, are you really sure because I\u2019m starting to cry and I don\u2019t want to be actually celebrating unless it\u2019s actually secure?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Mikaela Shiffrin wins her sixth overall season title. | Image: FIS Alpine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Shiffrin held the leader\u2019s seat briefly until Robinson surged ahead by 0.36 seconds with a formidable second run.<\/strong> The Kiwi held through six skiers before Rast took over, leading by 0.35 seconds.\u00a0Then the top contenders dropped. Stephanie Brunner edged ahead of Rast by 0.07 seconds, before Scheib stormed into the lead by a massive 0.74 seconds.<\/p>\n

Then came Holtmann.<\/strong> The Norwegian delivered the fastest run 2 of the day, feeding off the home crowd to take the lead by 0.14 seconds.\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s fantastic,\u201d Holtmann said after the race. \u201cI am so happy to get this now after a tough season.\u201d Ultimately it was second place for the Norwegian on home soil, but back to the excitement as there were still three skiers to go and a podium not certain yet.<\/p>\n

Aicher was next\u2014and for the young ski racer, everything was on the line.<\/strong> She had said ahead of the race she had nothing to lose and that\u2019s how she skied: all or nothing.\u00a0With a 0.21-second cushion from run 1, she attacked aggressively in a bid to win the race and the overall title. But a mistake in the mid-section cost her over a second. She crossed the line 1.61 seconds behind, ending her bid. The 22-year-old looked annoyed in the finish but the disappointment did not last long:\u00a0\u201cI mean, it\u2019s the goal, I want to be at the top in all of them,\u201d Aicher said. \u201cIt\u2019s been so much fun racing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next to falter was Hector, who could not match her first-run pace and finished behind both Holtmann and Scheib. <\/strong>All eyes turned to Grenier \u2014 would it be a Norwegian victory on Norwegian soil \u2014 the crowd was tense watching the Canadian, but Grenier skied with precision and confidence, regaining time after a slight loss up top and accelerating through the lower section. She crossed the line a massive 0.43 seconds ahead of Holtmann, sealing her first World Cup win in over two years and Canada\u2019s first victory of the season.<\/p>\n

Valerie Grenier wins at Hafjell. | Image: Rossignol Racing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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In the end, the day wrapped up a fantastic season for so many skiers with a series of great storylines: Grenier\u2019s long-awaited return to the top step, Holtmann\u2019s breakthrough on home snow, Scheib capping a dominant GS season with the discipline globe, Aicher having the best season of her young career, and \u2014 above all \u2014 Shiffrin making history with a sixth overall season title.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cI have to say to Emma that her skiing has been just outstanding, and today, it was just so cool to watch her, especially on the first run. I really thought the outcome of this day is that she could do this. And that\u2019s the coolest thing about ski racing, that anything is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Mikaela Shiffrin<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This ends the World Cup season on a high \u2014 so much to celebrate and digest over the next few months before these athletes throw themselves into summer training.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The three best skiers of the season: Mikaela Shiffrin, Emma Aicher, and Camille Rast. | Image: FIS Alpine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Valerie Grenier wins the last GS race of the season. | Image: Rossignol Racing A nailbiting final day of the women\u2019s World Cup Finals unfolded today, March 25, in Hafjell, Norway, with Canada\u2019s Valerie Grenier taking the win ahead of Norway\u2019s Mina F\u00fcrst Holtmann and Austria\u2019s Julia Scheib. Further back, Mikaela Shiffrin battled back from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,267],"class_list":["post-1846856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-snowbrains-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1846856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1846856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1846856\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1846856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1846856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1846856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}