Shiffrin captures slalom, moves to one win of World Cup record
SPINDLERUV MLYN, Czech Republic — Mikaela Shiffrin celebrated with a shoulder wiggle and a bright smile Saturday after dominating a slalom and moving within one victory of the 34-year-old World Cup record of 86 wins.
The American showed no signs of pressure, a day before another slalom in which she could match the best mark set by Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark in the 1980s.
“I don’t feel a lot of pressure to get this record. Now, I am so close that it’s like just take a breath and enjoy the moments we are in now,” Shiffrin said.
She had shared the women’s record of 82 wins with former teammate Lindsey Vonn before triumphing at back-to-back giant slaloms in Italy this week and adding career win 85 on Saturday.
“I’m always trying to think about everything else except these numbers, because they just make me nervous. And I don’t have a reason to be nervous if I achieve 86 or 87,” Shiffrin said. “But, for sure, if everybody asks, then I feel pressure to do it and then I don’t enjoy the races as much.”
Shiffrin certainly enjoyed the race Saturday, which marked her third win within five days.
“Today, it was just an amazing day. From the moment I woke up, I felt good and ready to go. And I was so happy with how I skied,” said the American, adding she had to overcome signs of fatigue.
“Sometimes when you’re tired, it takes away the nerves because you just don’t have the energy to be nervous,” she said. “Maybe it’s an advantage for me today, but I’m barely making it through tomorrow before I need a couple of days off.”
The American held a lead of 0.29 seconds after the opening run, but lost one-tenth of the advantage after going wide on a few turns early in the second before speeding up and posting the fastest run time again, this time shared with Croatian skier Leona Popovic, to beat Germany’s Lena Dürr by 0.60 seconds.
Shortly after Shiffrin finished the race, thirdplace Wendy Holdener of Switzerland and runnerup Dürr came over to hug her.
“I knew it would take some risk and there’s a chance that I don’t finish at all, but I have to do my best turns to have a chance because these women are so strong,” Shiffrin said.