The battle for the discipline championship was waged between two skiers better known for their slalom prowess: Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States and Petra Vlhová of Slovakia. With only the World Cup finals in Soldeu on 17 March remaining, both women had posted three victories in the discipline to distance themselves from the two most recent champions in the discipline, Tessa Worley of France and Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany. But Shiffrin's two other podium finishes, which Vlhová couldn't match, had staked Shiffrin to a 97-point lead over Vlhová, which meant that all Shiffrin needed to do in the finals was finish in the top 15 (since only the top 15 score points in the finals).[1] Instead, Shiffrin actually won the finals to decisively eliminate Vlhová, who finished third in the race.[2]