‘It’s indescribable’ – Mikaela Shiffrin in disbelief after equalling Lindsey Vonn’s record of 82 World Cup wins

ByJames Hilsum

Updated 08/01/2023 at 16:06 GMT

It always seemed to be a question of when and not if Mikaela Shiffrin equalled Lindsey Vonn's record, and she did so in style with a dominant performance in Slovenia. Shiffrin could not believe the magnitude of her achievement and had to quell some huge nerves ahead of that second run. Now, after matching Vonn, she will have Ingemar Stenmark’s all-time tally of 86 firmly in her sights.

Mikaela Shiffrin spoke of her disbelief after equalling Lindsey Vonn’s record of 82 World Cup wins with a majestic display at Kranjska Gora.

Shiffrin set the tone with a fantastic first run time of 55.30 which nobody could keep up with, while her second run time of 57.23 was enough to finish 0.77 seconds ahead of Italy’s Federica Brignone to claim her 82nd World Cup victory.

After the victory, she said: “The first thing is I want to see the run.

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“I hope I can ski like that again because it was maybe my best-ever run in the GS.

“I was so nervous on the second run. I don't know why, because like I said, I don't care about the number.

“I just focus on the skiing, but I was just more nervous than I've ever been. It feels like a fraction of my face froze!”

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The 27-year-old spoke about keeping her nerves under control in Slovenia and stressed how hard it is to remove the outside pressures that come from her achievements.

Four more wins will take Shiffrin onto 86 World Cup victories and move her level alongside Ingemar Stenmark’s all-time tally.

“When I felt nervous, I tried to be more powerful and somehow push harder instead of being too nice to the trail. I felt really smooth and powerful.

“Maybe at some point people will stop talking about it (the record)! I'm trying not to think about it. I'm trying not to change my goals for this record

“It's 82 victories; it's indescribable.”

'What an incredible performance!' - Shiffrin records win number 82

Shiffrin will have a chance to go past Vonn outright on Tuesday in the night race at Flachau.

Meanwhile, it was a positive day for Shiffrin's US team-mate Nina O'Brien, who came 25th and she was relieved to get some points on the board in the crystal globe standings.

“Today was definitely a good step forward for me,” she explained.

“It feels like a bit of relief and it gives me some confidence because I feel like my skiing has been there in training, but not in the races.

“It's nice to be back scoring in the races and bring some momentum into the next ones. It's been a challenging month or two for me, probably harder than I hoped.

“But everyone from my team-mates, my direct coaches and everyone in the US Ski team has been unbelievably kind and supportive of me.”

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