Shiffrin moves one win away from overall 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 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-toback 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 in 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 to beat Germany’s Lena Dürr by 0.60 seconds.

Mikaela Shiffrin