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Thrilling and even historical events took place during the technical races of the 2026 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Finals set on the well prepared slopes at Hafjell which already hosted the memorable technical events of the 1994 Olympics as well as two World Cup men’s competitions a year ago.

On Tuesday, local hero Lucas Pinheiro Braathen celebrated another amazing triumph on the hill he knows so well since his childhood to capture the giant slalom crystal globe after the rather surprising failure of favorite Marco Odermatt to get through the first run, while USA's Mikaela Shiffrin set a new record in the specialty with her ninth slalom victory this winter.

The next day, Shiffrin secured her sixth overall World Cup title with a solid performance in her giant slalom won by Canada’s Valerie Grenier while Norway’s Atle Lie McGrath captured the slalom globe finishing 8th in the race dominated by his teammate Timon Haugan.

Pinheiro Braathen, the recent winner at Kranjska Gora, in Slovenia, achieved two solid runs to beat Swiss Loic Meillard, the winner in 2025, by 58/100 of a second, while his good friend Atle Lie McGrath moved-up to an excellent 3rd place.

"It's for sure a exceptional special day for me and Brazil to claim another crystal globe here on this place I know so well since my younger years, I feel very strong emotions," Lucas explained afterwards. "It means so much for my team and my family which supported me so well since I decided to become a ski racer," he added the 2023 slalom World Cup champion.

A four-time consecutive winner of the giant slalom World Cup standings in recent years, Odermatt had a solid lead of 48 points on the reigning Olympic Champion before the race and a strong chance to prevail once more on the Hafjell run on which he was a solid 2nd behind his teammate Loic Meillard a year ago - and ahead of Pinheiro Braathen only 4th that time.

Starting with bib #1, the 2022 GS Olympic Champion put great pressure on himself and his skis, but he eliminated himself in the upper part of his over-aggressive run after losing his balance after a jump. The same misfortune already happened to him two years ago during the 2025 Finals at Saalbach-Hinterglemm.

110th win for Shiffrin

It was under a bright sunshine that Mikaela Shiffrin confirmed once more her amazing slalom form to enjoy her 110th World Cup victory beating by 1,32 seconds Swiss Wendy Holdener while her main rival for the overall globe Emma Aicher came in a strong 3rd at 1,36!

It helped the American to increase her lead in the overall standings to 85 points before Wednesday's giant slalom. With this ninth slalom victory in a single season, Shiffrin set a new record in the specialty –one more than her best mark during the 2018/29 winter and one more than Croatia’s Janica Kostelic in 2001.

The very last race-day of the 2025/26 World Cup season was particularly emotional. In the women's giant slalom, US star Mikaela Shiffrin had to fight harder than expected to secure another overall globe as her last rival, Germany's Emma Aicher was able to keep a strong pressure on her until the last minutes of the race after clocking an excellent 3rd time in the morning run. Yet the American remained cool and focused to keep her overall lead at the end. Her 11th place, just a few hundredths ahead of Aicher, helped Mikaela to score enough points to equal Austrian skiing legend Annemarie MoserProell’s record of six big globes.

"This was another tough day for me, I'm happy I was able to have enough energy in me to react well in the afternoon, Emma has been a tough rival this season," Mikaela said afterwards. "I greatly admire her skills to shine in all specialties and to show such a relaxed attitude on course," added the American who had to wait three years to capture another big globe after overcoming many tough moments related to serious injuries and crashes.

This exciting dual put a small shadow on the great performances of the other racers battling for victory in front of a large crowd very pleased by the result of the local hero Mona Fürst Holtman, 2nd, only 43/100 from the winner of the day while GS globe winner Julia Scheib was 3rd at half a second to collect her eighth top-3 result including five victories..
Grenier had been looking forward to compete at Hafjell where she clinched a bronze medal at the 2015 Junior FIS World Championships. It's her third win on the circuit after two impressive triumphs at Kranjska Gora a few years ago. Her season has been quite disappointing after grabbing an encouraging 3rd place in early December at Mont Tremblant on home snow.

It was also a special day for Julia Scheib who felt elate to get the GS crystal globe after the race. "It has been an incredible season with those five wins and so many top-3 results, to carry that globe was quite an extraordinary feeling," the Austrian told the press. "To finish the World Cup season with another podium result is really nice as it shows again how consistent I have been during the whole winter after winning the first race at Soelden. Scheib is the first GS globe winner for Austria’s women team since Eva Maria Brem in 2016.

A nearly similar tense scenario took place on the men's side with both Lucas Pinheiro Braathen and his childhood friend Atle Lie McGrath struggling to fully control their nerves in the last decisive slalom captured by Norway's Timon Haugan. Despite his modest final 8th place 1,79 seconds behind Haugan, Atle could successfully defend his lead in the slalom standings as Lucas straddled a gate at the beginning of his second run while charging for victory and another crystal globe!

Atle Lie had a tough time to understand that he'll be winning that precious globe that he has been dreaming of for a long time. "This is too much for me, the past month has been a horrible roller coaster for me with the death of my beloved grand-father in February and my loss at Bormio," he said. "I was so tense these days, I couldn't eat or sleep properly and didn't manage to ski properly today," he added.

The LOC President was happy

The 60th World Cup season will be remembered in for many remarkable races and victories, including the fifth overall World Cup title of Swiss Marco Odermatt. Norway successfully hosted its third Alpine Finals after those from 1996 and 2003. Positive results also for the
LOC President Ole Kristian Kirkerud who was more than satisfied with the 2026 events at Kvitfjell and Hafjell.

"I believe that the crowds and the teams were quite pleased by the race conditions, the hospitality and the exciting competitions which took place during those four race days," Kirkerud said after the last race. "It really was a dream coming through for all of us including the hundreds of hard working volunteers. All of us have been waiting for a while to finally host those Finals. "

"The speed races of the first week were quite exciting with the fights for the globes on the women's side and the dominance of our friend Dominik Paris who achieved once more some amazing runs to become the most successful athlete on the course. The competitions in Hafjell were very thrilling too with the impressive performances of several Olympic Champions and globe winners. The victory of Norway’s Timon Haugan on the last day was particularly emotional for our numerous visitors as well as the tense fights for the last crystal globes between Marco Odermatt, Lucas Pinheiro Braathen and Atle Lie McGrath."

"We were very pleased to hear the very positive remarks from the team captains at the end of the last meetings in Kvitfjell and Hafjell. The fact that they all eagerly wish to come back here for more races, both on the women's and the men's tours, is very motivating. Apparently the competitors also greatly enjoyed their private party which took place in the large VIP tent on Sunday evening!"

"We also enjoyed receiving the visit of some of FIS's leaders such as President Eliasch and CEO Lehmann who kindly also took part in the Award Ceremonies of the World Cups. Over thirty thousand spectators attended all the races and our Business Summit at Kvitfjell was also very well visited."

" Last winter, our LOC successfully managed to organize a total of eight races in three weeks at Kvitfjell and Hafjell with the strong support of our partners and management of the mountain resort, AlpinCo, so I can imagine that we were fully able to confirm our high level of experience, our commitment and our passion. There still is room for improvements in many areas and ways to attract more visitors in the region. Some of us are thinking about implementing strong projectors at Hafjell for possible night skiing and also racing. With the help of the region and the state, we wish to build a better arrival area at Kvitfjell, with a new comfortable building for our guests and media representatives. I am convinced that the next ten years will bring some very positive upgrades in both places for the good of our sport, "also commented Ole Kristian Kirkerud.