New queen of the mountain: Mikaela Shiffrin surpasses Lindsey Vonn in World Cup skiing wins
Luke Gentile
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America’s Mikaela Shiffrin made skiing history Tuesday, winning her 83rd World Cup race, a new record for women’s skiing.
Shiffrin, 27, won the giant slalom at the Kronplatz resort in the Italian Dolomites and broke her tie with former teammate Lindsey Vonn to become No. 1 on the all-time women’s list for World Cup wins, according to a report.
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“I don’t think there are words to explain all the feelings,” Shiffrin said.
“In the end of it, it’s like there’s too much excitement to feel. I don’t know if that makes sense. So it’s something you can’t explain. So I just try to breathe a bit and enjoy it.”
Shiffrin stands alone among women in World Cup wins and now sits just three wins away from matching the men’s mark set by Ingemar Stenmark during his competitive run through the 1970s and 1980s, the report noted.
The 27-year-old, two-time Olympic gold medalist won Tuesday, crossing the finish line just 0.45 seconds ahead of world champion and Swiss skier Lara Gut-Behrami.
Shiffrin had posted the quickest first run and was then slated to be the last competitor to complete the second run, according to the report.
“I was a bit nervous for the second run, but mostly, I hate waiting,” she said. “Finally, when it was time to go, then it was like everything went quiet, and I just pushed as hard as I could every turn. It was pretty amazing to come through the finish and see that I was quite fast. Because I could hear that the other athletes were skiing well. I thought, ‘I could lose this, so I better try to ski a really good run.’ And it was.”
Claiming victory, Shiffrin stood composed as she sang the national anthem, and a gold-colored crown was placed atop her head.
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The American has a full slate of races scheduled for this week and could tie Stenmark’s record by Sunday.