When Mikaela Shiffrin finished speaking, reporters started clapping

today 09:30
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Fifth consecutive win, 81st overall in World Cup racing and once again after a dominant performance. American skier Mikaela Shiffrin is in the shape of her life and is just one step away from crossing a big milestone.

In mid-December he won the super-G in St. Moritz, after Christmas two giant slaloms and a slalom in Semmering and now added first place in the slalom in Zagreb. Before that, he won both slaloms in Levi.

Thanks to her great performances, Shiffrin has come close to the number – 82. This is exactly the number of times her compatriot and record holder Lindsey Vonn has won World Cup races.

“I never told her about this record. It was a big thing for her, when she approached him she talked about it all the time, I don’t like it like that. If this was my last career win and I didn’t beat the record, I don’t mind. I still want to be on top, but I do it because I enjoy it and I’m probably a little crazy too”. Shiffrin laughed at the post-race press conference.

He can equal Vonnová already today, another slalom will be held in Zagreb, the first round starts at 15.00, the second three hours later.

Petra Vlhová, Mikael Shiffrinová, Anna Swennová-Larssonová

Source: TASR

Wednesday won quite clearly, second Petra Vlhová lost 0.76 seconds. But the slope was a great challenge for Shiffrin and for all the female skiers. It is very hot in Zagreb and she was not in ideal conditions at all. “I had two good rounds, the second one was a great success. I wasn’t afraid of bumps in the track, I gave it my all and it worked.

The whole track was quite difficult, but I didn’t feel dangerous. If I had it, I wouldn’t go full speed ahead out of fear. At one corner at the bottom was a big hole, I saw it on my second lap inspection.

Some girls had a problem with it, I was able to pass it just fine. I knew there would be pitfalls and pitfalls elsewhere too, but I told myself I should be able to handle them.”

However, he didn’t want to blame the organizers for the track conditions, he realizes it’s a much bigger problem. “We can’t lie to ourselves, it’s really hot and that’s not just a problem for Zagreb, but for the weather and for all of Europe this winter. It’s amazing that we were able to race.

There weren’t good conditions, but you saw that it could be done. But yes, when it’s soft and the ski goes in the wrong place, it can be dangerous, but we shouldn’t blame the organizers for that, the climate is to blame and we have to deal with it. There will certainly come a time when we will have to decide whether the conditions are still really manageable or already dangerous.” Shiffrin said.

He also started winning as he could remember the track and concentrate better. When she remembers everything on tour, nothing surprises her. “The whole track was as I expected. But it doesn’t always happen, for the last three years since my father died, I have had memory problems.

This season I can finally fully focus and no longer have periods where I can’t even think for five days straight. Concentration and memory are gradually returning, but the road is long”.

He has a long winning streak, but he is well aware that it has to end at some point. “Now I’m on a wave of victories, but at some point the wave will fall, that’s the only thing I can guarantee you. One day it will end, whether it’s here in Zagreb or at the next race, one day it will happen. And then I’ll try to catch the next wave.”

If he doesn’t win, he doesn’t make much of it, as evidenced by what was said between the first and second rounds. “That I can win, but I don’t have to. And in any case, it will be fine for me if I give my all and deliver a performance that I deserve to win.

When I saw how Petra Vlhová skied this hill a year ago, I had the feeling that I was giving it my all and going full speed, but still I couldn’t go any faster. Because of this, I trained more and took my skiing to the next level, and now I think I’m doing the best slalom of my life. I haven’t been that good with them yet” Shiffrin revealed the moment that propelled her forward.

Can he improve his skiing or is he already at his peak? “You can always be better. I couldn’t have been better today, but you can always find a corner where you say to yourself: it was good, but I could have done better.

We have to look at it in detail, because one of my opponents can do it like that and then she’ll be faster than me and then I’ll have to step back and see what she does better than me.” the American revealed how they break down winning runs.

The Zagreb slalom winner receives a crown as a trophy, Shiffrin took home the fifth and as she revealed she has them all in a special place, but she also had some problems with them. “I have them on the trophy wall, I leave the crowns in the most visible places.

The question is how to get it home without it breaking. All the ones I have at home are whole, but before they all broke and we had to glue them together.” laughed Mikaela Shiffrin at the end.

The entire press conference lasted more than thirteen minutes, he traditionally spoke openly, honestly and with a smile. Several Croatian journalists present applauded her for this at the end.