Mikaela Shiffrin’s a centesimal World Cup victory on Sunday cemented her place as the very best alpine skier ever, the American vowing there was extra to come back in her iconic profession.
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Hitting the legendary three-figure barrier leaves Shiffrin with a file that can likely stand for a era given the growing calls for on modern-day skiers.
Johan Eliasch, president of the Worldwide Ski Federation , mentioned that Shiffrin’s file would take some beating.
“Well, we said that after Ingemar Stenmark after his 86,” Eliasch acknowledged of the Swede’s World Cup tally that was lengthy the file.
“There will always be somebody. It’s just a question of when. But that might take a very long time,” he mentioned of Shiffrin.
The 29-year-old’s slalom victory in Sestriere is all of the extra outstanding as a result of it comes so quickly after an stomach puncture sustained in a crash in November that sidelined her for 2 months.
“My dream since I was a child has been to make beautiful turns and to improve every day,” she mentioned. “I just have to take this day and be grateful for it.”
She made her comeback from that harm at Courchevel final month earlier than heading to Saalbach for the world championships the place she partnered downhill champion Breezy Johnson to win gold within the group mixed.
However she opted out of defending her big slalom title, citing signs like post-traumatic stress dysfunction introduced on by her fall and harm.
She completed fifth within the slalom, lacking out on what would have been a record-setting sixteenth world championship medal.
Shiffrin presently has 15 world championship medals: eight golds, 4 silvers and three bronzes, together with 4 gold within the slalom.
“It’s a strange place to be: returning from an injury, from surgery eight weeks ago, from laying in bed with the drainage up to six weeks ago, to return midseason in the middle of world championships where everybody is talking about the medals,” she mentioned. – Aggressive consistency –
It’s testomony to Shiffrin’s aggressive consistency that she isn’t written off, harm comeback or not.
After making her World Cup debut in March 2011 just some weeks earlier than her sixteenth birthday, Shiffrin claimed her first podium in December of the identical 12 months and received her first World Cup race in December 2012 on the age of 17.
Shiffrin received slalom gold at her first world championships, two days after ending sixth within the big slalom.
“It’s been 17 years in the making. Everyone says it comes so fast but it seems like it’s been forever for me,” she mentioned after her win in Schladming.
Then got here a primary Olympic gold within the slalom from the 2014 Sochi Video games and the primary defence of her slalom crown a 12 months later, having already notched up a dozen World Cup wins.
Shiffrin sealed a 3rd consecutive world slalom title and likewise bagged a GS silver on the 2017 St Moritz worlds.
It was a turning level for the then 21-year-old, who vowed “no limits” as she introduced her focusing on the super-G and downhill in her quest for international domination.
There was a botched defence of her Olympic slalom title on the 2018 Pyeongchang Video games, the place she did nonetheless declare big slalom gold.
She kicked off proceedings on the 2019 Are worlds by making good on her transfer as much as the pace disciplines, profitable gold within the super-G in addition to defending her slalom title and a bronze within the GS. – Push for medals –
The 2021 Cortina worlds got here a 12 months after her father Jeff died unexpectedly.
Shiffrin instantly returned dwelling to Colorado and spent greater than 300 days off the piste, albeit in a season reduce quick by the Covid-19 pandemic. It was a 12 months, she mentioned, that felt “like it lasted 20 years”.
She rebounded in Cortina with fashion: a four-medal exhibiting, together with one gold within the alpine mixed though she was unable to proceed her dominance within the slalom.
Her medal haul noticed her turn out to be the US skier with most world titles and world medals , overtaking Ted Ligety and Lindsey Vonn respectively.
By her personal excessive requirements, Shiffrin endured a depressing 2022 Beijing Olympics, failing to complete the slalom, big slalom and alpine mixed occasions three occasions during which she had been a eager favorite.
After what she dubbed that “epic under-performance”, Shiffrin once more rebounded on the world stage, claiming a first-ever GS title to go together with two extra silvers.
You must “push for medals because that’s what you do at a world champs”, she mentioned.
“You wear your heart on your sleeve and you go for it, I’m not afraid of the consequences as long as I have that mentality.”
Subsequent on the agenda is the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo. It will take a courageous pundit to wager in opposition to Shiffrin once more leaving her stamp on the worldwide stage.
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