Mikaela Shiffrin equals Ingemar Stenmark’s World Cup win record with stunning giant slalom win

ByBen Snowball

Updated 10/03/2023 at 18:39 GMT

Mikaela Shiffrin was in a league of her own once again as she took a superb giant slalom victory in Are ahead of Federica Brignone and Sara Hector. With win No. 86 banked, the American great will turn her attentions to surpassing Ingemar Stenmark in the slalom on Saturday. Shiffrin’s total time of 1:54.64 was 0.64 seconds clear of Brignone, who put in a blistering final run to take second.

Mikaela Shiffrin equalled Ingemar Stenmark’s record haul of World Cup victories, with a stunning giant slalom delivering an 86th win in Are, Sweden.

The American icon held a sizable 0.58s lead heading into the second run and duly completed the job, finishing 0.64s clear of Italy’s Federica Brignone for a share of history. Shiffrin put her hands on her helmet in disbelief as Brignone and third-placed Sara Hector warmly congratulated her.

The outright record now beckons for Shiffrin, with the world’s leading Alpine skiers returning for the slalom on Saturday. The first run is at 09:15 GMT, with Shiffrin hoping to shoot for history in the second run from 12:15 GMT.

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The 27-year-old boasts wins across all Alpine disciplines: 52 slalom, 20 giant slalom, five super-G, five parallel, three downhill and one Alpine combined.

"This is a spectacular day. I just wanted to fight for it," Shiffrin said. “It’s amazing, incredible.”

Stenmark – an all-time great in both slalom and giant slalom – preferred not to be present in Are, and instead chose to watch on television.

“She’s much better than I was. You cannot compare,” he admitted to the Associated Press ahead of her record-equalling run, 34 years after he had grabbed the record.

Shiffrin has had three chances to snap up her 86th win since landing No. 85 six weeks ago, but struggled to match Stenmark’s record so soon in the speed races, with those not her specialty.

The victory in Are was Shiffrin's fourth straight win in World Cup giant slaloms since January, and since then won gold in the event at last month's World Championships in Meribel, France.

She also claimed the season-long World Cup giant slalom title – her 15th career crystal globe trophy – having already won her fifth overall and seventh slalom title this season.

'This is a spectacular day!' - Shiffrin after creating history

Six of her 20 career World Cup giant slalom wins have come this season. The extraordinary feat matched the women's record held by Switzerland's Vreni Schneider.

Friday’s record-equalling win comes 11 years after her first World Cup race in a 2012 giant slalom – also at the Swedish resort – before winning two gold medals in Are at the 2019 World Championships.

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