By Alan Baldwin CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Mikaela Shiffrin has dominated slalom all season and Wednesday's final race of the Alpine ski schedule will be the U.S. great's last chance of a medal at the Milano Cortina Games.

Alpine skiing — one of the Olympics most popular sports — has made a lot of headlines in Milan this year. From Lindsey Vonn’s stunning fall that left her needing a multitude of surgeries, to Lucas Pinheiro Braathen winning the men’s giant slalom,

Switzerland dominates men’s Alpine skiing in Bormio, winning four gold medals as Franjo von Allmen emerges as a star and heartbreak defines the slalom final.

Loic Meillard's commanding victory at the Winter Olympics on Monday ended a decades-long drought in Alpine skiing's most technical discipline and reinforced the nation’s status as the sport’s benchmark.

Madison's Alpine Team has been carving down slopes for more than a century, starting as ski jumpers in 1919 and evolving into today's modern alpine squad. With competition

They're calling it the "six-back".

Norway's Atle Lie McGrath is the current leader in the FIS World Cup standings, but he'll face tough competition from giant slalom gold medalist Lucas Pinheiro Braathen of Brazil. Start Times: Run 1 (4 a.m. ET), Run 2 (7:30 a.m. ET) Atle Lie McGrath and Lucas Pinheiro Braathen are the primary names to watch in the men's slalom.

Just miles from Cortina’s Olympic runs, Alto Adige’s winemakers harness snowmelt, soaring elevations, and tradition to craft Alpine wines built for endurance.

The eagerly awaited electric successor to the Alpine A110 sports car, scheduled for release next year, will adopt the same platform and critical mechanicals as the extreme Renault 5 Turbo 3E mega-hatch.