Mikaela Shiffrin dethrones Lindsey Vonn as skier with most World Cup wins
With 84 victories, she is two victories behind the absolute record held by Swedish skier Ingemar Stenmark. She is the only one to win in all the modalities of alpine skiing.
American skier Mikaela Shiffrin won the women's giant slalom in Kronplatz (Italy), on Tuesday and Wednesday, during the Alpine Ski World Cup. With this triumph, she becomes the skier with the highest number of world championship victories (84), surpassing her compatriot Lindsey Vonn.
The Italian Alps bared witnessed Shiffrin acheiving this new milestone. Now, at the age of just 27, she will have the opportunity to catch up with Swedish skier Ingemar Stenmark, who has held the overall record with 86 wins since 1989.
On the first descent, the American skier set the fastest time and beat her nearest rival, Swiss athlete Lara Gut-Behrami, by 13 seconds.
Under pressure from Gut-Behrami in the second run, Shiffrin took a risk and, with a more aggressive style, went back ahead of the Swiss skier. The American athlete explained what she felt at the end of her race:
"For Mikaela, the sky's the limit."
On January 8, she equaled Vonn's 82 victories at the Kranjska Gora ski resort in Slovenia. Vonn herself was the first to congratulate her compatriot on her incredible achievement:
Only female skier to win in all disciplines
Shiffrin is on track to become the best female skier in history. To her credit, she already is the only one to win in the six disciplines that make up the Alpine Skiing World Cup: Slalom, Downhill, Giant Slalom, Supergiant, Combined and Parallel.
She already has two Olympic gold and one silver medal and four Crystal Globes (overall winner of the World Cup).