Mikaela Shiffrin became the most successful racer in World Cup skiing history as she won the slalom in Aree on Saturday for the 87th time.
After winning, Shiffrin said, “That thought is hard to grasp.”
Shiffrin said, “My brother and sister-in-law came here. I didn’t know they were coming, so it’s so special.”
Two days before her 28th birthday, the American finished 0.92 seconds ahead of second-place Wendy Holdner to take her 13th World Cup win of the season at the Swedish ski station where she opened her World Cup account in 2012. A 17 year old.
Steinmarkt also has its own home ground.
“She’s very impressive, she’s amazing,” Stenmark told AFP by telephone on Saturday.
“It’s great for him, fantastic. And especially since he beat the record where he won his first World Cup race.”
After a blistering opening run, she led Sweden’s Anna Sven Larsson by 0.69 s at the halfway mark, with Switzerland’s Holdner third in 0.94 s.
Another Swede, Cornelia Ohland, was fastest on the second run, but Shiffrin had enough cushion for a solid and comfortable record-breaking victory.
Shiffrin said, “It’s the best feeling to ski on a second run when … you have an edge.”
“You have to be smart, but at the same time I wanted to be fast. And ski the second race like my race, and I did it exactly how I wanted to and it’s amazing.”
Shiffrin grabbed her fifth overall Crystal Globe last weekend.
– Decade of Talent –
In a strange coincidence, Saturday’s record-breaking win comes 12 years after Shiffrin made her World Cup debut in the giant slalom at Spindleruv Mlyn in the Czech Republic, two days before her 16th birthday.
Since then he has scored 87 wins from 245 starts.
Like Shiffrin, Stenmark enjoyed slalom and giant slalom, two disciplines the Swede dominated from 1975 to 1989 before retiring.
But while the Swede won all of his World Cup wins in slalom and giant slalom, Shiffrin developed into a skier across all disciplines in his World Cup run, with 53 wins in slalom, 20 in giant slalom, five in super-G, Downhill includes three wins. five in parallel slalom and one in combined.
Shiffrin came off the back of the World Championships in France where she won gold in giant slalom and silver in both super-G and slalom.
She is also a two-time Olympic gold medalist, despite failing to make the podium last year in Beijing.
BSP/MW
