Far away from her mystifying struggles at the Olympics, Mikaela Shiffrin soared back to the summit of Alpine skiing Thursday.
A season that risked being defined by zero medals from six events in China instead ended in triumph in the French Alps.
Shiffrin clinched the overall World Cup title Thursday, the sport's most coveted prize, with standout racing in the speed disciplines on back-to-back days at the weeklong season finals.
An expected duel this week with defending overall champion Petra Vlhova was settled with two races left this weekend in their favored slalom and giant slalom.
"It's been some high moments this season and it's been some really difficult moments as well," Shiffrin said. "Ending it on a high (and) finding some really nice moments on the last races, that's really important and very special."
The fourth giant crystal globe trophy in her career, and first since 2019, lifts the 27-year-old Shiffrin to the level of former teammate Lindsey Vonn in World Cup history.
Only the six overall titles of Annemarie Moser-Proll, the Austrian great who dominated downhill in the 1970s, stands above the two Americans.
It was a surprise win in downhill Wednesday that fueled Shiffrin to the title. She backed it up with a smartly judged second place Thursday in super-G to pull away from Vlhova, who failed to score points in either race.
Suddenly her Olympic struggles just a month ago seem like the distant past.
"Just this week, right now, I really enjoy skiing," Shiffrin said, though also acknowledging more self-doubt before coming to neighboring Courchevel and Meribel.
It continued an up-and-down season in which five wins and 14 podium finishes in just 24 World Cup events made her inconsistent Olympics such an outlier.
It also included an enforced break because of a covid-19 infection in December and still coming to terms with her father's death in an accident at the family home in Colorado two years ago.
"This last week alone was some very low moments (thinking) I should just go home because I don't think I truly have a chance," Shiffrin said Thursday. "And somewhere we're here now."
The "we" could as easily have referred to her partnership with boyfriend Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, the Norwegian who also celebrated a success this week.
Kilde placed fourth in the men's super-G Thursday but that discipline title was already locked up, and he also added the downhill crystal trophy Wednesday.
Racing one hour after the women, Kilde was at the start further up the mountain at the moment of his girlfriend's victory. Instead, another Norwegian, Ragnhild Mowinckel who had just won the super-G race, was first to share a celebratory hug with Shiffrin.
The men's race was won by Vincent Kriechmayr, adding to his downhill success Wednesday on the Eclipse course at Courchevel.
Norway's Aleksander Aamodt Kilde celebrates with the super-G overall leader's cup at the end of an alpine ski, men's World Cup Finals super-G, in Courchevel, France, Thursday, March 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)
Norway's Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, left, and United States' Mikaela Shiffrin follow an alpine ski, men's World Cup Finals super-G, in Courchevel, France, Thursday, March 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)
United States' Mikaela Shiffrin speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup Finals super-G, in Courchevel, France, Thursday, March 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
Norway's Ragnhild Mowinckel celebrates on the podium after winning an alpine ski, women's World Cup Finals super-G, in Courchevel, France, Thursday, March 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)
Norway's Ragnhild Mowinckel speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup Finals super-G, in Courchevel, France, Thursday, March 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
From left, second placed United States' Mikaela Shiffrin, winner Norway's Ragnhild Mowinckel and third placed Switzerland's Michelle Gisin celebrate in the finish line of an alpine ski, women's World Cup Finals super-G, in Courchevel, France, Thursday, March 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)
Italy's Federica Brignone celebrates on the podium with the women's super-G overall leader's cup, at the alpine ski, women's World Cup Finals, in Courchevel, France, Thursday, March 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
Austria's Vincent Kriechmayr speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup Finals super-G, in Courchevel, France, Thursday, March 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
From left, men's super-G overall second placed Switzerland's Marco Odermatt, winner Norway's Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and third placed Austria's Vincent Kriechmayr celebrate on the podium, at the alpine ski, World Cup Finals, in Courchevel, France, Thursday, March 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)