Alpine Ski World Cup: 100 World Cup victory: Next milestone for Skistar Shiffrin

Mikaela Shiffrin dropped into the snow and looked at the scoreboard in disbelief. The American exceptional athlete won the Sestriere slalom and celebrated her 100th World Cup victory. It is another milestone in the unique career of the 29 -year -old ski racer. She was so grateful, said Shiffrin after she got up again. The most successful athlete in the World Cup history was also visibly seized because of the difficult days earlier.

Record set for most podium places

This performance is “very big”, said Lena Dürr. The best German slalom driver for years had landed a place behind her teammate Emma Aicher as seventh. In the hustle and bustle of the historical triumph by Shiffrin, the strong German performance went under. For a long time, the 100 wins mark was considered unreachable. Shiffrin has now cracked her – a good twelve years after her first success in Swedish are and after various ups and downs.

Olympic Gold 2014 in Sochi, four World Cup titles and now 63 World Cup victories-Shiffrin sometimes drives in its own world. Across discipline she was in Sestriere for the 155th time on a World Cup platform and thus set the record of the Swedish ex-Skistar Ingemar Stenmark. Above all, however, she showed a strong reaction to the disappointments in the giant slaloms.

Fall in the giant slalom leaves traces

On Friday she only became 25 in Italy, and did not even come into the second round on Saturday. Real deep blows for Shiffrin, who still suffers mentally from the consequences of their violent fall at the home race in Killington at the end of November. In the giant slalom there, she had suffered a deep stab wound in the abdominal area, which had to be operated on. There were complications, two months later Shiffrin returned to the World Cup.

She has not found the lightness of yore since then. Shiffrin explained that she had to overcome a lot mentally to bring the desired performance onto the slopes. At the World Cup in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, she had recently dispensed with a start in the giant slalom. In the slalom of the team combination, however, she convinced – and won the title with Breezy Johnson.

In addition to successes, setbacks again and again

So now the next masterpiece of the alpine dominator. Despite increasing temperatures and declining slopes, she won in Sestriere with more than half a second ahead of Zrinka Ljutic. The young Croatian is a further rising slalom star and Shiffrin in discipline rating. The American is no longer concerned with crystal balls this winter.

Having fun and getting back on skis – these are Shiffrin’s goals for the remaining weeks of the season.

Her father Jeff’s accidental death five years ago, which for her medal and tearless Olympic Games in Beijing 2022 – Shiffrin had to survive many dark moments on her way up. Her fall in Killington this winter was also one. But the US star always comes back – and how.