With 82 Alpine Ski World Cup wins, Mikaela Shiffrin has now matched the women’s record (held by fellow American Lindsey Vonn), and is only 4 short of the record for both men and women, held by Ingemar Stenmark.
Shiffrin won her latest victory (the eighth of her season) in the second giant slalom race on Sunday, Jan. 8, when she finished .77 seconds ahead of Italy’s Federica Brignone in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia. Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Behrami took third.
Though Shiffrin had won 5 consecutive World Cup races before a single sixth-place finish Saturday’s giant slalom, she was nervous for Sunday’s racing:
“I have a rash on my face, I was so nervous! I don’t know why, maybe it’s because of 82. I only wanted to ski well and I did. I can’t believe it.
“It was a fight, but it was pretty amazing conditions and I got a report from the coaches that just said everything is fully attackable, so you have to go for it. I’ve been in this position and I’ve given it away, and today I wanted to go for it.”
Stenmark’s record was set in 1989 at the end of the Swedish athlete’s legendary career. Vonn’s record was set just prior to her retirement in 2018.