Alpine skiing: Shiffrin wins Crans-Montana combined

United States's Mikaela Shiffrin competes in an alpine ski, women's World Cup combined race, in Crans Montana, Switzerland, on Sunday. (AP Photo/Marco Tacca)

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland: Mikaela Shiffrin made up for the absence of sick American teammate Lindsey Vonn by winning Sunday’s World Cup combined event in Crans-Montana.
Vonn opted out of the combined with what she dubbed food poisoning, the speed queen also suffering whiplash from a crash in Saturday’s super-G.
Shiffrin made no mistake in the slalom of the combined to take a further step to the World Cup overall title after finishing seventh in the opening super-G, 1.30sec adrift of Italy’s Sofia Goggia.
The 21-year-old American, who claimed a third consecutive world slalom title in St. Moritz, timed a combined total of 2min 07.16sec, finishing 0.70sec ahead of Italy’s Federica Brignone, with Slovenia’s Ilka Stuhec in third (+0.85).
The victory, Shiffrin’s 29th in the World Cup and first in combined, left her — in the absence through injury of Swiss rival Lara Gut — in pole position for a first-ever overall title.
With just eight races until the end of the season (and 800 points on offer), Shiffrin enjoys a 298-point lead over Stuhec.