Advertising Read more

Courchevel (France) (AFP)

American Mikaela Shiffrin became the youngest woman to win 50 World Cup ski races with victory in the slalom in the French Alps on Saturday.

The 2014 Olympic champion, who led after the first run, finished 0.29sec ahead of Slovakia's Petra Vlhova and 0.37sec ahead of Sweden Frida Hansdotter in third place to win in Courchevel.

The 23-year-old Olympic champion becomes the first woman to secure a half a century of race victories before her 24th birthday, which she will celebrate in March next year.

Shiffrin won Friday's giant slalom by overcoming a 0.08sec deficit and blizzard-like conditions. Victory on Saturday was her fourth consecutive win in the French resort.

Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark leads the record for both men and women with 86 career successes.

Shiffrin's fellow US racer Lindsey Vonn has the most female wins with 82 victories across all five alpine disciplines. Vonn is expected to return to the circuit early in 2019 after recovering from injury.

Shiffrin leads the overall standings on 889 points after 13 out of the 38 events this season and Vlhova is on 388 in second place.

? 2018 AFP