Shiffrin takes big lead in World Cup slalom that could seal a record sixth overall title

HAFJELL, Norway (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin made a strong start to a World Cup slalom that could seal a record-tying sixth overall title on Tuesday.

The standout slalom skier in World Cup history took a huge lead of 1.10 seconds in the first run on an unusually long course. It took Shiffrin more than one minute, seven seconds to pass the 77 turning gates.

Shiffrin started the race 45 points ahead of Emma Aicher in the World Cup overall standings and the German allrounder was fourth fastest, trailing by 1.38.

If their positions stay the same in the afternoon run, Shiffrin will earn 100 points and take a lead of 95 into the season-ending giant slalom on Wednesday.

Aicher would then need to win the giant slalom — a discipline in which the 22-year-old racer has a career-best finish of fourth — and Shiffrin fail to score points. Any top 15 result for Shiffrin would then secure the title.

Shiffrin still must navigate the second run on Tuesday, with Wendy Holdener her closest challenger and Paula Moltzan third, trailing her United States teammate by 1.12.

Holdener sat in the leader’s box watching Shiffrin race and smiled for the TV camera with a shoulders shrug on seeing yet another exceptional run by the American.

Shiffrin won eight of the previous nine World Cup slaloms this season, plus the Olympic title last month at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

She aims to match Austrian downhill great Annemarie Moser-Pröll with six World Cup overall titles that are the sport’s most prized honor.

Moser-Pröll won five straight titles from 1971-75 then a sixth in 1979.

Shiffrin won three straight from 2017-19, then back-to-back titles in 2022 and ’23.

AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing

United States' Paula Moltzan competes in an alpine ski, women's slalom race, at the Lillehammer World Cup Finals, in Hafjell, Norway, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Switzerland's Wendy Holdener is airborne during an alpine ski, women's downhill training, at the Lillehammer World Cup Finals, in Kvitfjell, Norway, Friday, March 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Germany's Emma Aicher competes in an alpine ski, women's slalom race, at the Lillehammer World Cup Finals, in Hafjell, Norway, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin competes in an alpine ski, women's slalom race, at the Lillehammer World Cup Finals, in Hafjell, Norway, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin competes in an alpine ski, women's slalom race, at the Lillehammer World Cup Finals, in Hafjell, Norway, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian missiles and drones targeted Israel and Gulf Arab states Tuesday, even as U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. was in talks with the Islamic Republic to end the war.

Trump also delayed a deadline for Iran to open the strategic Strait of Hormuz for shipping or see its power stations targeted by airstrikes, briefly driving down oil prices and boosting stocks.

The delay offered a reprieve after the U.S. and Iran traded threats over the weekend of strikes that could have cut electricity to millions in Iran and around the Gulf and knocked out desalination plants that provide many desert nations with drinking water, while raising fears of possible catastrophe if nuclear plants were hit.

But any information on the talks described by Trump remain in dispute with Iran, which denied any talks had been held.

“No negotiations have been held with the US,” Iranian parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf posted on X, adding that “fakenews is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said Israel will continue to strike Iran and Lebanon even as the U.S. considers a ceasefire.

“There’s more to come,” he said.

Iran fired three waves of missiles at Israel early Tuesday, with reports of an impact in the country's north, the Israeli Home Front Command said.

Israel, meantime, pounded Beirut's southern suburbs saying that it was targeting infrastructure used by the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group.

In Kuwait, power lines were hit from air defense shrapnel, causing partial electricity outages in several hours. Missile alert sirens sounded in Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia's Defense Ministry said it had destroyed 19 Iranian drones targeting its oil-rich Eastern Province.

Oil prices briefly fell below $100 a barrel after Trump claimed his government was in talks to end the war. But that respite was short lived, with the price of Brent crude, the international standard, back to $104 a barrel in morning trading, up more than 40% since Israel and the U.S. started the war on Feb. 28.

Trump initially set a deadline of late Monday, Washington time, for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on its power plants, but on Monday he gave Tehran five more days to comply.

Iran has allowed a small number of ships through the strait, which leads from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, but has said it will continue to target vessels linked to the U.S., Israel or its allies.

Its leaders are wary of Washington's motives, in part because Tehran was in negotiations with the U.S. before the surprise attack that started the war. Iran had also been in talks last year when the U.S. and Israel attacked its nuclear facilities, starting a 12-day war.

Trump's extension of the deadline comes as a contingent of thousands of Marines is on the way to the area, raising speculation that the U.S. may try to seize Kharg Island, which is off of Iran's coast and vital to the country's oil network.

The U.S. bombed the island in the Persian Gulf more than a week ago, hitting its defenses but saying it had left oil infrastructure intact.

Iran has threatened if the U.S. appears to be on the verge of landing troops it could mine the Persian Gulf, which would complicate an amphibious assault and also imperil all shipping in the area.

The delay could be timed to coincide with the arrival of U.S. Marines in the region, expected Friday, wrote the New York-based think tank the Soufan Center in an analysis.

“As Trump has in the past, he could be moving military assets into place, in this case to prepare for an invasion and seizure of Kharg Island, while using negotiations as a cover until those assets are fully combat-ready.”

However, the center also noted that “Trump could be actively seeking an offramp. Whether Iran reciprocates is yet to be seen.”

Trump has said he has no plans to send ground forces into Iran but has not ruled it out. Israel has suggested its ground forces could take part in the war.

Iran’s death toll has surpassed 1,500, its Health Ministry has said. In Israel, 15 people have been killed by Iranian strikes. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed, along with more than a dozen civilians in the occupied West Bank and Gulf Arab states.

Rising reported from Bangkok and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Elena Becatoros in Athens, Greece and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed to this report.

A man stands on the rubbles of a destroyed building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A medic measures the blood pressure of a woman at the scene of a U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

An Israeli rescue officer responds at the site of an Iranian missile strike in Tel Aviv, Israel,Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Israeli security and rescue forces respond at the site of an Iranian missile strike in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

A man takes cover as air raid sirens sound, warning of rockets launched from Lebanon toward Israel, in Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Children play beside a fragment of an Iranian ballistic missile that landed in a schoolyard in the Israeli settlement of Peduel in the West Bank Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Rubble covers the furniture of a destroyed living room in a residential building hit in an earlier U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Rescue workers and first responders work at a residential building hit in an earlier U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Missiles launched from Iran streak across the sky over central Israel, early Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)