HAFJELL, Norway, March 16 (UPI) -- Kalle Palander made history Sunday by winning the men's slalom crystal globe for Finland's first-ever World Cup title.
Giorgio Rocca of Italy, meanwhile, won the season's final race for his second victory of the season.
Palander finished the season with 658 points in the slalom standings, taking over the title from Croatia's Ivica Kostelic, who ended with 580.
Earlier this year, Palander became the first Finnish skier to win a World Cup race, clinching the slalom in Kitzbuehel in January.
Kostelic entered the final race trailing the Finn by 34 points but was unable to make up the deficit, finishing seventh.
Palander, leading after the opening leg, delivered a strong second effort but, with the title at stake, exercised slightly more caution than Rocca. The Italian stormed down the Olympia-Loypa course in a two-run combined time of 1 minute, 45.44 seconds, with Palander finishing .41 back.
Austrian Manfred Pranger was third in 1:45.98 for the first podium finish of his career.
Palander entered the final race heavily favored, having won the last four slalom races. Kostelic had won three in the early half of the season and finished third in Wengen.
Bode Miller, who struggled with the slalom for most of the season, fell halfway down but got up again to complete the course. The American crossed the finishline 8.54 seconds behind Rocca. Miller finished just four of the season's 10 races in the slalom, his strongest event last year.
