Mikaela Shiffrin is back to doing what she does best: winning.

The Edwards skier clinched her eighth World Cup slalom season title and her 96th World Cup win Sunday in Are, Sweden, after spending six weeks rehabilitating her left knee from a crash in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, back in January that left her with a sprained MCL and tibiofibular ligament.

Shiffrin’s much-anticipated return to the World Cup started off with a strong statement in the first run, posting the fastest time and taking the lead over Swiss runner-up Michelle Gisin by 0.02 seconds and Croatian Zrinka Ljutic by 0.11.

“It’s pretty special. I’ve been lucky to be able to race again this season and I’m really soaking it in. I am enjoying being back and my knee is holding up, it’s doing good work for me,” Shiffrin told reporters after the first run. “I felt like this was a really good run. I was pushing the whole way, and when I feel the knee, it doesn’t distract me from skiing or from pushing my skis, so then that’s perfect.”

In her second run, Shiffrin took the fastest time again, this time widening the gap even more and beating Ljutic by 1.24 seconds and third-placed Gisin by 1.34.

“It was so nice to race again today and some nerves and all the emotions that I hoped to feel,” Shiffrin said. “The second run was some of my best skiing. I am just so happy to be able to do that again this season.”

With her Slovakian rival Petra Vlhova out for the season after knee surgery, the American’s only remaining challenger for the slalom season title was Lena Duerr.

The German skier had to win both Sunday’s race and the season-ending slalom at the World Cup finals in Austria next weekend to stay in contention, but finished fourth, 1.35 behind Shiffrin.

The season title is Shiffrin’s eighth in slalom, making her the fourth skier to win eight crystal globes — the traditional prize in Alpine skiing — in a single classification.

Former American teammate Lindsey Vonn achieved the feat in downhill. On the men’s side, Austrian standout Marcel Hirscher won eight overall championships, and Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark reached that number of titles in both slalom and GS.

The slalom title will be Shiffrin’s only globe this season. She skipped Saturday’s giant slalom on the same hill and won’t compete in the speed events of the finals, leaving her without enough races to close the 345-point gap on leader Lara Gut-Behrami. The Swiss star has all but secured her second overall title after winning it for the first time in 2016.

This article contains reporting from The Associated Press.