Now Shiffrin is the greatest

24 hours after her 86th victory in the giant slalom, with which Mikaela Shiffrin had set the mark of the Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark, the American, who is celebrating her 28th birthday today, drove to the sole world record.

In the Aare slalom, the exceptional ski racer celebrated her 87th triumph – and there is no end in sight. “My heart was beating wildly. It’s hard to describe what’s going on inside me. It’s not over yet,” said Shiffrin, who was surprised by her brother and sister-in-law at the finish. “I don’t know how they did it. They shouldn’t be here. It’s good to have the family with you at such a special moment.”

Shiffrin stands for superlatives. She’s won everything there is to win, including three crystal globes this winter (total, slalom, giant slalom) and three World Championships medals (one gold, two silver). The hunger is not satisfied, after the World Cup final in Soldeu, which starts on Monday with the downhill training, the focus is already on the coming season after a well-deserved vacation.

“For me, the races are still very exciting, which is a sign that I have a lot of motivation. It’s a good feeling,” said Shiffrin.

On the other hand, there were long faces among Austria’s women, who did not get past 17th place (for Katharina Truppe). It was the worst performance in slalom since Flachau 2018, when Bernadette Schild was 18th.

Nevertheless, there is good news: Tamara Tippler ended the season because she is looking forward to motherhood. “The current situation also came as a surprise to me. I notice that I no longer have the necessary willingness to take risks, which has always distinguished me,” reported the 31-year-old Styrian, who does not want to speak of the end of her career: “The passion is over as before, I want to see what the future of skiing will bring.”

Marco Odermatt came up trumps

Kranjska Gora was golden ground for Marco Odermatt. The Swiss overall World Cup winner won both giant slalom runs (and the discipline classification) and is now attacking Hermann Maier’s 2000-point mark. The 25-year-old double world champion from Courchevel currently has 1,826 points to his name and still has three chances (downhill, super-G, giant slalom) to gain a lot.

“I’m not really concerned with Hermann Maier’s record. Anyway, my tactics are always flat out. If we’re not talking about a perfect season, then when will we?” said Odermatt.

The red-white-red men remained in Slovenia without a place on the podium. After Stefan Brennsteiner finished fourth on Saturday, frequent driver Marco Schwarz finished seventh today. “You can already tell that it’s been a long winter. The legs aren’t that fresh anymore,” explained the Carinthian.

Manuel Feller – yesterday 19th – is again tormented by severe back pain. Roland Leitinger (29th) is also tweaking properly.