Mikaela Shiffrin goes clear of Lindsey Vonn with 83rd World Cup win after dramatic giant slalom triumph in Kronplatz

ByBen Snowball

Updated 24/01/2023 at 14:54 GMT

Mikaela Shiffrin is the most successful skier in women’s World Cup history. The American star claimed an 83rd win on the circuit in Kronplatz and now stands just three away from matching Ingemar Stenmark’s all-time record. She had to do it the hard way after seeing Lara Gut-Behrami jump to the top of the leaderboard with the penultimate run, but Shiffrin held her nerve to deliver a famous win.

Mikaela Shiffrin surpassed Lindsey Vonn to become the most successful woman in World Cup history with a dramatic 83rd win in the giant slalom at Kronplatz, Italy.

The American was last out on the second run as she overhauled Lara Gut-Behrami with a stunning run to win by 0.45 seconds, moments after the Swiss star had appeared to snatch victory with a sublime ski of her own.

Shiffrin will now set her sights on Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark, who won a record 86 times on the World Cup circuit between 1975 and 1989.

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The 27-year-old boasts wins across all Alpine disciplines: 51 slalom, 18 giant slalom, five super-G, five parallel, three downhill and one Alpine combined.

“It’s hard to find words actually. I don’t think there are words to explain all the feelings. During the day it’s stressful, sometimes peaceful, sometimes nervous, sometimes excited,” Shiffrin told Eurosport.

“These days with two runs are long days, they are exhausting but by the end of it there is too much excitement to feel. I don’t know if that makes sense. It’s not something you can explain.

“I just try to breathe a bit, enjoy it…”

'Stressful, peaceful, nervous, excited!' - Shiffrin on range of emotions after record win

An electric finale began with Petra Vlhova going clear with five skiers remaining. The Slovak’s podium hopes were boosted when Paula Moltzan took off and crashed, before Valerie Granier made a flurry of errors to plummet down the order.

Federica Brignone was next, hoping to deliver a home win. It was a typically ragged run, living on the edge of her inside ski and somehow getting away with it, as she snatched the lead by 0.22 seconds. But what followed from the final two skiers surpassed even that.

First, Gut-Behrami produced a flawless run on her favoured terrain to take a mammoth 0.98s lead, blowing away the field in the final two sectors and leaving Shiffrin with the unenviable task of following.

But Shiffrin, as she has throughout her career, stepped up. It was not a perfect run, with a couple of small errors halting her early progress, but she carried her speed brilliantly as she exited the steep onto the flat to deliver a famous win.

It was her ninth win of the season, surpassing her combined haul from the previous two seasons.

Shiffrin also extended her lead in the overall World Cup standings to 1417 points, 556 points clear of Gut-Behrami.

Shiffrin 'continues to blow the minds' as she tops standings in Kronplatz first run

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