Stop the presses. Mikaela Shiffrin did not win during Friday\u2019s World Cup giant slalom in Spindleruv Mlyn in the Czech Republic.<\/p>\n
In her first action on the tour in nearly three weeks, Shiffrin finished third (2 minutes, 25.29 seconds) behind the winner, Slovakia\u2019s Petra Vlhova (2:24.69), and Germany\u2019s Viktoria Rebensburg (2:24.80).<\/p>\n
While the expectations for Shiffrin have gone beyond ridiculous \u2014 that not winning a World Cup race prompts questions like, \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with Shiffrin?\u201d \u2014 the really good news on Friday is that the Vail racer all but clinched her first giant slalom World Cup title.<\/p>\n
France\u2019s Tessa Worley, Shiffrin\u2019s closest pursuer in the discipline, finished seventh on Friday. With the 60 points from her third-place finish, Shiffrin expanded her GS lead to 97 points over Vlhova and 105 over Worley. For the uninitiated, a racer earns 100 points for World Cup win and there is only one GS race left in the season a week from Sunday in the World Cup Finals in Soldeu, Andorra.<\/p>\n
Shiffrin would have to DNF, while Vlhova would need to win for the globe to flip to the Slovakian. For the record, Shiffrin has not DNF\u2019d in a race in more than a year.<\/p>\n
<\/blockquote>\nThis story will be updated.<\/p>\n