Mikaela ShiffrinThe hot form continued on Wednesday (January 25) as the American skier squeezed it 10th World Cup victory this seasonand 84th in his careerin the giant slalom race at Kronplatz in Italy.
The 27-year-old, who became the skier with the most wins in the Women’s World Cup on Tuesday, gained momentum in Wednesday’s second race.
Shiffrin, fourth on the slope in the first heat, dominated and took a 0.51 second advantage over reigning Olympic champion Sara Hector in the second attempt.
In the difficult snow, Shiffrin – entering the second run with a 0.72-second advantage over Ragnhilda Mowinckel after Hector fell behind the Norwegian – was aggressively exiting the starting hut to extend her lead in the race.
While the American was taking a break for a controlled race, there was no doubt she would be on the podium again. Her combined time of 2:03.28 was 0.82 seconds better MowinckelWith Bully third.
For the first time in over three seasons, Shiffrin achieved double-digit wins on the World Cup circuit. Now she is just two wins short of the legendary Swedish skier’s World Cup win record Ingemar Stenmark.
“Oh my god, I was pushing so hard and I was just hoping I ended up on the right side of all the gates. Now I’m a bit mentally dead, just so tired, but when you ride like this you keep your energy. Just an amazing feeling,” Shiffrin told FIS TV.
Shiffrin’s win was the 19th giant slalom win of her career, only one behind Vreni Schneider’s record. Her victory puts her 118 points ahead of Lara Gut-Behrami in the giant slalom classification and 611 points ahead of the Swiss in the general classification.
After two slaloms in Spindleruv Mlyn, Shiffrin could catch up with Stenmark by the end of the week.
