Mikaela Shiffrin equals Ingemar Stenmark's World Cup wins record claiming the Are giant slalom
The double Olympic champion claimed her 86th victory to become the most successful alpine skier alongside the Swedish legend.
Alpine Skiing
Mikaela Shiffrin's wait to tie Ingemar Stenmark's wins record in alpine skiing World Cup is finally over.
The 27-year-old reached the historic feat after claiming her 86th career win in the giant slalom race in Are, Sweden, on Friday (10 March).
In the same venue where she recorded her first-ever World Cup victory in 2011, Shiffrin held on her first-run lead to win in a combined time of 1:54.64, finishing in front of Federica Brignone of Italy and local favourite Sara Hector.
"This is just a spectacular day, I knew the GS globe was locked in before the race, so I just wanted to push and kind of fight for it. In the first run I had luck with the light, second run was much more dark and I just kept pushing, this is amazing," the double Olympic champion told FIS after the race.
The Team USA superstar claimed her 20th win in giant slalom, drawing level with Switzerland's Vreni Schneider for most World Cup wins in the discipline.
Shiffrin also wrapped up the giant slalom globe, her third World Cup title of the season after winning the slalom crown and the overall globe for the fifth time. "After the overall and the slalom globe my biggest dream for the rest of the season was the GS globe. If I was at the start and I had to choose, I would choose the GS globe, but I just tried to earn it basically. That’s amazing," she added.
Mikaela Shiffrin's message for Ingemar Stenmark: 'No matter what I do, for me it doesn't even compare to what you achieved'
"It's nothing too crazy for me, but if you mention my name in the same sentence as Ingemar Stenmark, that's pretty wild," Shiffrin said after the race.
"I just feel it should have never happened! (laughs) When I was little, I never believed that someday I would be in this position. It's just incomprehensible for me basically. The whole day I tried not to focus on that. If I achieve 86 or 87 (World Cup wins) or whatever number for me it doesn't change anything about what Stenmark accomplished.
"It's a really really cool number, it's wild, but for me consistency throughout the season has always been my biggest goal. At the beginning of the season I wouldn't have never thought I would get close to 86. My focus was more on consistently top skiing, that was more important to me for the whole season. Now to get to 86 as well is something not easy to process."
Asked by a Swedish reporter to send a message to Stenmark, the seven-time World champion replied: "No matter what I do, for me it doesn't even compare to what you achieved. Maybe I get the 87th victory, maybe not, but for me the biggest dream is to be mentioned in the same sentence as you. So it's pretty special who you are and who you were as a ski racer, what you've achieved as a human, that's been the most inspiring thing and that doesn't stop there. So you may not want attention, but you'll still get it because that's who you are!"
Results Giant Slalom Women's World Cup on 10 March 2023 (top 10):
- 1. Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) 1:54.64
- 2. Federica Brignone (ITA) +0.64
- 3. Sara Hector (SWE) +0.92
- 4. Petra Vlhova (SVK) +1.42
- 5. Tessa Worley (FRA) +1.78
- 6. Valerie Grenier (CAN) +1.80
- 7. Alice Robinson (NZL) +1.97
- 8. Thea Louise Stjernesund (NOR) +2.11
- 9. = Stephanie Brunner (AUT), Maryna Gasienica-Daniel (POL) +2.14
World Cup Giant Slalom standings after Are giant slalom on 10 March 2023
- Mikaela Shiffrin 700 pts
- Petra Vlhova 486
- Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI) 482