It was Shiffrin’s second medal of these championships in St Moritz and the fourth of her career. 

She also took the slalom gold in Schaldming in 2013 and in Beaver Creek two years ago.

The 21-year-old, who led by 0.38sec after the first run, proved imperious as she claimed gold by 1.64.

She was unstoppable on the second run and crossed the line in a time of 1 min 37.27secs.

"I didn't see my time until I got all the way through and I knew I had a good run, but I didn't know it was that good until I saw the time," said Shiffrin.

"Three medals is great, but today is really special today for me because I finally skied this the way I wanted to and that's what means a lot to me today."

Much to the delight of the home fans, Wendy Holdener of Switzerland took the silver medal in 1:38.91, her second of these World Championships after she took gold in the alpine combined last week.

“I made a few small mistakes in the second run, so when I heard the speaker say I had the lead I was surprised,” said Holdener.

“There was no beating Mikaela today, so I’m really happy with the silver medal and these entire World Championships.”

Sweden's Frida Hansdotter rounded out the podium, taking third with her time of 1:39.02.

She now has three medals in the last three World Championship appearances, with one silver and two bronzes.

"It means a lot to me today, I had a lot of pressure so it feels nice to have the medal," said Hansdotter.

"I've been skiing well the last few years and to get a medal at the last three World Championships is great,"

Slovakia’s Veronika Velez Zuzulova was in third place after first run, but she failed to finish the second run after crashing into a gate.

The World Alpine Skiing Championships are set to draw to a close tomorrow with the 11^th medal event, the men’s slalom.