With her 86th World Cup victory, the American equaled Ingemar Stenmark’s record.
It’s done. Mikaela Shiffrin wrote alpine skiing history in the giant slalom in Aare. At the place where she won her first race at World Cup level in December 2012, the American matched Swede Ingemar Stenmark’s record of 86 World Cup victories.
“Incomprehensible”, not comprehensible, and “incredible”, unbelievable, be it, said Shiffrin in TV interviews. “When I was young, I never thought I would ever be mentioned in the same sentence as Stenmark.”
She had been asked about the record countless times in the past few weeks, even months. Keeping the focus was therefore not easy, Shiffrin admitted on Friday. “I tried not to think too much about the number 86. But today it went really well. I thought, ‘It happens when it happens’ and just focused on my race.”
With the success, Shiffrin, whose victory in the overall World Cup was already certain, won her second small crystal globe this season. A declared goal of hers, as she attaches great importance to consistently driving at a high level. Shiffrin had already fixed the slalom ball before the World Cup at the end of January – for the seventh time.
As a child prodigy, Mikaela Pauline Shiffrin, born on March 13, 1995 in Avon, Colorado, competed in the Ski World Cup. She was 17 years, 9 months and 7 days old when she celebrated her first World Cup victory on December 20, 2012. In Aare, the circle closes. Your famous hunt for records continues uninterrupted – especially in the special season 2022/23. First, the exceptional athlete broke the record of her former opponent and compatriot Lindsey Vonn and became the first woman to win 83 World Cups. Then, with her 14th World Championships medal, she rose to become the most successful ski racer at World Championships in the post-war period. So now it’s Stenmark’s turn, who celebrated all 86 wins in the technical disciplines in the 1970s and 80s.
86, not much is missing from 100 victories, which everyone in the industry will sooner rather than later trust her to be healthy. As early as Saturday, Shiffrin could become the sole record holder in the slalom. Not much is missing and the high-flyer has collected 1,928 World Cup points this season twice as many as the second best, Petra Vlhova (1,025).
The Colorado-born skiing genius is clearly uncomfortable with all the record numbers. “Maybe we can finally stop. I only know because you always draw my attention to it.” But comparisons have long been made across the boundaries of alpine skiing. There are about 95 World Cup victories for biathlete Ole Einem Björndalen, or 114 for cross-country skier Marit Björgen. As long as these are not reached, Shiffrin will continue to have to face the record questions.
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