Intro:

The USA's Mikaela Shiffrin claimed victory in Are, Sweden on Saturday (14th March) to move to the brink of taking the slalom title for the 2015 World Cup ski season.

Script:

American Mikaela Shiffrin won her fourth World Cup slalom race of the season on Saturday, beating Slovakia's Veronika Velez Zuzulova by 1.41 seconds.

Sarka Strachova of the Czech Republic was third, 2.15 seconds back in the Swedish resort of Are.

Shiffrin, who was in the lead after the first run, lost some time on the top of the hill but recovered in the bottom half to clock the fastest time in the second leg as well.

The result means Shiffrin extended her lead over Frida Hansdotter in the overall slalom standings to 90 points with one race remaining.

Hansdotter was sixth in Are, 2.54 behind Shiffrin.

The only way for the Swede to get the crystal globe for slalom now is if she wins the final race in Meribel while Shiffrin fails to make the top 20.

Shiffrin, who turned 20 on Friday, has won four of the last five World Cup slalom races.

She also defended her gold medal in slalom at the World Championships last month.