Mikaela Shiffrin continued to show why she’s the best in the business on Sunday, claiming her historic 100th World Cup victory at Sestriere, Italy.
Shiffrin finished 0.61 seconds ahead of second-placed Zrinka Ljutić after two runs in the women’s slalom event while her US teammate Paula Moltzan finished in third.
When the 29-year-old realized her victory was secured, she broke down into tears as the emotions of her achievement caught up to her.
“Everybody’s been so nice and so supportive. All of my teammates and competitors and coaches and the whole World Cup and I’m so grateful, thank you,” Shiffrin said afterwards. “And the fans, thank you so much.
“I think it’s pretty special to share it with Paula (Moltzan), my teammate, I could hear everybody cheering from the start when she went and I thought: ‘OK, it’s like a day of training, it’s like we just keep pushing,’ and she pushes and I push and I made it achievable.
“Today a lot of things had to go right for me and actually wrong for some others … a lot of things had to go right in my direction for this to happen but in the end I did something right too.”
While Shiffrin is the first downhill skier to reach 100 wins, she joins an exclusive club formed of telemark skier Amélie Wenger-Reymond (164), cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen (114) and freestyle skier Conny Kissling (106) to reach this milestone.
Shiffrin also tied another piece of history with her first-place finish, equaling the World Cup record for the most podium finishes. Sunday’s result was her 155th podium finish, matching the record held by Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark.
Shiffrin had claimed her 99th victory three months ago but has since dealt with injuries which have hampered her success on the slopes.
In a race in November, the two-time Olympic gold medalist suffered a puncture wound to her abdomen and severe muscle trauma when she crashed out the event the event at a race in Killington, Vermont.
As a result of the crash, Shiffrin says she has suffered from PTSD and withdrew from the giant slalom event at the world championships earlier this month.
On Saturday, she failed to qualify for a second run in a giant slalom event for the first time since 2012 while competing at a World Cup race in Sestriere since she finished outside the top 30 skiers.
But she bounced back emphatically on Sunday, completing her second run with a time of 56.54 seconds to claim her record-extending 100th World Cup victory.
Shiffrin is already in a class of her own in terms of World Cup wins having passed Stenmark’s record of 86 in 2023 and continues to further stretch her record-breaking mark.
