American skier Mikaela Shiffrin on Friday equaled Ingemar Stenmark’s ski record of 86 World Cup race wins in alpine skiing, in her Swedish home country and at the place where she won her first race more than a decade ago.
American great Shiffrin, who turns 28 on Monday, held on to a big first-run lead as she dominated a giant slalom ahead of Italy’s Federica Brignone and Sara Hector of Sweden to reach the historic milestone in Are.
The two-time Olympic and seven-time world champion can gain sole possession of the record at the same venue on Saturday in her pet event, the slalom.
Shiffrin clinched the giant slalom World Cup title with her sixth season win in the discipline, and with 20 career giant slalom victories also equaled Swiss Vreni Schneider’s women’s record.
She covered her face with her gloves after crossing the line and looked in disbelief before Brignone and Hector were the first to congratulate her, with Brignone telling her “what a win”.
“It is just a spectacular day, oh my goodness,” Shiffrin said in the winner’s interview, before telling Austrian broadcasters ORF “the biggest achievement is being mentioned in the same sentence as Ingemar Stenmark.”
Shiffrin won her first World Cup race in a slalom in Are on December 20, 2012, at age 17, and she has never looked back.
She beat compatriot Lindsey Vonn’s women’s record 82 wins in January and now drew level with former great Stenmark, whose record was considered for the ages at the time.
Many experts believe she can also reach the 100 mark if she stays healthy.
Shiffrin has won a World Cup discipline record 52 slaloms, 20 giant slaloms, five super-g and parallel races each, three downhills and one alpine combined.
Her 86th victory came in the 245th World Cup race which also marked her 135th podium finish.
Stenmark won all of his races in slalom (46) and giant slalom (40, his 86th and final victory, and 155th podium, coming in the 228th of his 230 career World Cup races in the 1970s and 1980s.
Shiffrin now has 12 wins in another outstanding season which has seen her clinch a fifth overall World Cup title, a seventh slalom crown, and a second giant slalom globe.
In addition, she won giant slalom gold plus super-g and slalom silver at last month’s world championships in France.
A global media for the latest news, entertainment, music fashion, and more.
