SAN VIGILIO DI MAREBBE, Italy — American skier Mikaela Shiffrin won a record 83rd World Cup race on Tuesday.
Shiffrin’s victory in the giant slalom broke the tie on the women’s all-time list with former USA teammate Lindsey Vonn. Vonn retired four years ago when injuries cut short his career.
“It might take me a little while to figure out what to say,” Shiffrin said. “I don’t know what to say now.”
Shiffrin needs just three more wins to match Ingemar Stenmark’s overall rating – between men and women – of 86 wins.
Stenmark competed in the 1970s and 1980s.
Shiffrin led from start to finish at the resort of Kronplatz in the Italian Dolomites, cruising 0.45 seconds ahead of world champion Lara Gut-Behrami and 1.43 ahead of local favorite and former overall champion Federica Brignone after also posted the fastest first run.
Shiffrin looked exhausted and relieved immediately after finishing, leaning over and resting her head on her poles, then biting her lip before going to kiss Gut-Behrami and Brignone.
Brignone said to Shiffrin, “Congratulations”, and Shiffrin replied, “Oh my god”.
It was Shiffrin’s ninth win of the season.
Also, Shiffrin is only 27 years old. Vonn was 33 when she won her last World Cup and Stenmark was 32.
The record also comes nearly a year after Shiffrin failed to medal in six events at the Beijing Olympics after entering amid high expectations.
Shiffrin can quickly add to his record total in another giant slalom at Kronplatz on Wednesday. She will then contest two slaloms — her best event, having won 51 of her 83 victories — in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, next weekend. This is where Shiffrin made his World Cup debut aged 15 in March 2011.
After a short break, Shiffrin will once again be a threat for multiple medals at the world championships in Courchevel and Meribel, France, which start on February 6.