Mikaela Shiffrin equals Vonn's record of 82 World Cup wins

"When I ski, it's like a song… Flow, power, rhythm. You can't help but feel great." 

Those few words that Mikaela Shiffrin wrote on social media last year could very well be used to sum up her skiing career so far. The 27-year-old is undoubtedly one of the best alpine skiers of her generation, many even consider her to be the best ever.

On Sunday, Shiffrin added another milestone to her collection of records. Her victory in the giant slalom at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, was her 82nd World Cup win and a special one, as she equaled the record set by fellow American Lindsey Vonn.

Shiffrin took a 0.24-second lead in the first run and finished 0.2 seconds ahead of Switzerland's Lara Gut-Behrami and Slovakia's Petra Vlhova in her second run, with Italy's Federica Brignone finishing second overall. 

"I was so nervous this run," Shiffrin said after securing the the milestone victory. "I don't know why, maybe a little bit because of 82. I really wanted to ski it well and I did, I can't believe it."

Few doubt that Shiffrin will add further World Cup wins to her resume and pass not only Vonn, but also legendary Swedish ski racer Ingemar Stenmark, who holds the all-time record with 86 World Cup wins. Even the seemingly unattainable mark of 100 World Cup victories doesn't seem out of reach for the American should she decide to keep going for the foreseeable future. 

Near retirement after father's death

She came close to retirement three years ago when her father, Jeff Shiffrin, died after a freak accident. In February 2020, he fell from a ladder while trying to repair the roof of the family's home in the US state of Colorado. The 65-year old later succumbed to his severe head injuries.

Shiffrin was heartbroken at the "unexpected passing of my kind-hearted, loving, caring, patient and wonderful father," she wrote on Twitter. "Our mountains, our sea, our sunrise, our heart, our soul, our everything. He taught us so many valuable lessons." 

Continuing the World Cup season after such a tragedy was unimaginable for Shiffrin, and she abandoned all other races of that year. Even months later, Shiffrin admitted that it was hard for her to care about anything in life at that point, let alone sports.

"There was a really long time that I didn't feel like it was worth to care about anything," she said. It seemed like, I am not going to ski race again, because the most fundamental thing of an athlete is that you have to care about your sport. And I just didn't."

Shiffrin however changed her mind, and soon after her return she won her 67th World Cup race — 10 months after her father's death. In a highly emotional moment, she burst into tears in the finish area. "I didn't know if I could sky at that level again," she said. "It takes so much energy. This is a win for my whole team, for my mom. I didn't race alone today."

World champion at 17

Shiffrin's mother Eileen had coached her daughter until 2019. For seven years, the two were a rare and much-chronicled pair that had produced unprecedented and historic results in a perilous sport.

At the end of 2019, Eileen stepped away from her on-hill coaching and training role to remain at home in Colorado, a decision that Mikaela and Eileen said was mutual and borne of discussions after the death of Eileen's mother, Pauline Condron.

"We felt like it was important for her to get back to her life," Mikaela said at the time. "But it's not easy for either of us."

The passion and talent for skiing lies deep within the Shiffrin family. Her parents used to ski race themselves and she stood on skis for the first time when she was two and a half years old. Like her older brother, Taylor, she attended an elite school for winter athletes in the US state of Vermont. The school's principle already had a sense that an exceptional talent had joined his school.

"She is the best I have ever seen," he said at the time. Two days before her 16th birthday, Shiffrin competed in her first World Cup race in March 2011. 20 months later, she stood at the top of the podium for the first time in Are, Norway in slalom, a discipline, that she would dominate for years. 

The series of slalom wins began in 2013. Shiffrin, only 17 years old, became world champion in slalom for the first time, in Schladming, Austria. A year later, she won Olympic gold in slalom at the 2014 Games in Sochi. In her career, the American has collected three Olympic medals, including two golds, 11 World Championships medals and six World Cup titles. 

World Cup wins in all disciplines

Being the dominant force in slalom for so many years, Shiffrin tried her luck at the speed disciplines of super-G and downhill for the first time in the 2015-16 World Cup season. After a rocky start and an adaptation period, the victories weren't far away and she celebrated further World Cup wins. Shiffrin is one of only seven ski racers who have been successful in all five World Cup disciplines (slalom, giant slalom, super-G, downhill, combined). The American won the World Cup four times — in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022. 

US technical coach Roland Pfeifer already saw great things coming for Shiffrin in 2013. "Her ambition is incredible. She is focusing her entire life, 24 hours a day, towards skiing," Pfeifer said about the then 17-year-old. Shiffrin's focus and ambitions haven't changed to this day.

Sometimes even she gets a bit uneasy about her success: "Somehow it's crazy: the more I win, the more I am afraid of not doing it again in the future," she said. "It's a scary feeling."

So far however, her fear is unfounded. Not only are things going well for the US superstar in her career, but also in her private life. Shiffrin is one half of a dream couple with fellow alpine skier, Norwegian Alexander Aamodt Kilde, who won the overall World Cup in 2020.

This article was translated from German.