Mikaela Shiffrin at Levi’s on November 16.
IMAGO/Newspix24
Mikaela Shiffrin has the opportunity to make even more history by winning a 100th World Cup victory, Saturday or Sunday, in Killington (Vermont, United States), in the region where she became a champion.
The American, who already holds the record for World Cup success at only 29 years old, attacked the season fully, with two successes during the two slaloms contested in Levi (Finland) then in Gurgl (Austria) last week.
“A little pressure”
With 99 successes accumulated in thirteen years on the world circuit, Shiffrin offered herself the opportunity to make history on the gentle slopes of Vermont, where she lived as a teenager to complete her training at Burke, two hours drive north of Killington.
The American could reach this symbolic number, as early as Saturday, during the Giant, or more surely on Sunday during the slalom, her favorite discipline, a race in which she is the huge favorite in the absence of her Slovak rival Petra Vlhova.
In thirteen starts taken in Killington on the world circuit, the Colorado native has already won six times, always in slalom (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023), on the aptly named “Superstar” track.
The crowd, always enthusiastic in Vermont, promises to be noisy to support the local star at the end of the weekend of Thanksgiving celebrations.
“There is a bit of pressure around that that I will try to ignore,” said the five-time winner of the big globe. “If I achieve the 100th victory there it will be great, but otherwise it doesn’t matter… But I still want to give everything in front of my home crowd.”
Death of his father
If successful, Mikaela Shiffrin would continue to raise the record for victories on the world circuit to unprecedented heights after overtaking her compatriot Lindsey Vonn (82) and the Swede Ingemar Stenmark (86) at the start of 2023.
The precociously talented American has forged the greatest track record in alpine skiing thanks to her total domination in slalom (86 podiums and 62 victories in 114 starts!), and to her versatility, she who also won in giant (22 ), super-G (5), downhill (4), combined (1), and parallel (5).
Shiffrin’s trophy cabinet is weighed down by 14 world medals (including 7 titles) and three Olympic medals, including two gold (slalom in 2014, giant in 2018).
The Beijing Games in February 2022 were one of the only failures of his career (three off-track events, no medals), two years after the sudden death of his father. But Shiffrin was able to bounce back on the track, continuing to reap successes up to a possible 100th.
(afp)
