American skier Mikaela Shiffrin has surpassed Ingemar Stenmark’s previous record for the highest number of World Cup wins by claiming her 87th victory. The Boston Globe reports:
American Mikaela Shiffrin made history Saturday, claiming her 87th World Cup skiing win to break a tie with Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark atop the all-time win list.
Shiffrin took a big lead in the opening run of a women’s slalom, leading second-place home favorite Anna Swenn Larsson by 0.69 seconds. Swiss skier Wendy Holdener trailed by 0.94 in third and was the last skier to finish within a second of Shiffrin’s lead.
“Pretty hard to comprehend,” Shiffrin said about the record.
After finishing the final run, the American crouched and rested her head on her knees. Her bother, Taylor Shiffrin, then came out and hugged her during the winners ceremony.
“My brother and sister-in-law are here and I didn’t know they were coming, that makes this so special,” Shiffrin said.
It’s also Shiffrin’s record-extending 53rd win in the discipline, where she has dominated for so many years, finishing nearly a second clear of Holdener of Switzerland and Larsson.
Shiffrin matched Stenmark’s mark of 86 wins by winning a giant slalom Friday.
The victory gave Shiffrin the outright record 12 years to the day after her first race on the World Cup, as a 15-year-old at a GS in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic.
“The best feeling is to ski on the second run when of course you want to win, you have a lead so you have to be sort of be smart but also, I just wanted to be fast, too, and ski the second run like its own race,” Shiffrin said. “I did exactly that and that is amazing.”
Action Line: Is Mikaela Shiffrin the best athlete of all time? Perhaps. Hard work, devotion, and consistency are the root of Shiffrin’s success. Apply that approach to your life to live safer and more successfully in America. Click here to subscribe to my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, and I’ll help you stay on track.
