(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
 . . . . . . . . . .



Mikaela Shiffrin did it! 87th World Cup victory! GOAT. [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']

Date: 2023-03-11  

(Image free for use from wikimedia commons, image from Stockholm WC, 2019)

In January I wrote a diary about Mikaela Shiffrin’s 83rd Alpine World Cup victory, when she passed Lindsey Vonn for first place among women in total Alpine victories.

This morning, two days before her 28th birthday, Shiffrin passed Swedish great, Ingemar Stenmark, for first place in the all-time Alpine World Cup rankings, with her victory in the Slalom race in Are, Sweden. Stenmark retired at the end of the season in 1989, but, at age 66, he remains a very fit guy. He has followed Shiffrin’s quest (as he did Vonn’s before her) with grace and appreciation.

In a recent interview, he said:

“She’s much better than I was. You cannot compare,” Stenmark said in an interview with The Associated Press. “She has everything. She has good physical strength, she has a good technique, strong head. I think it’s the combination of everything makes her so good. And I’m also impressed that she can ski good both in slalom and in super-G and downhill also. “I could never have been so good in all disciplines.

For her part, Shiffrin is similarly self-effacing when she discusses Stenmark.

“No matter what I do, it doesn’t ever compare to what you achieved,” Shiffrin said, per the Associated Press. “Maybe I get the 87th victory, maybe not. But for me the biggest dream is to be mentioned in the same sentence as you.”

As Stenmark said, the achievements really defy comparison, just as they do with Lindsey Vonn, who held the women’s record of 82 World Cup victories until Shiffrin broke it in late January of this year. Vonn’s career was characterized by many high-speed crashes and injuries, followed by surgeries nearly as destructive to her career path. Downhill and Super-G, Vonn’s favorite disciplines, are much more high-risk than the technical events Shiffrin favors. But it is important to note that Shiffrin has won 5 Downhill races and 3 Super-G races (Vonn won 4 Giant Slalom races and 2 Slaloms, to respect her all-around abilities, as well.) Shiffrin’s greatest success always came in the so-called ‘technical events’ of Giant Slalom (20 victories) and Slalom (53 victories, the greatest number in any single Alpine discipline of any skier).

I awakened very early this morning (4:30 am Eastern) to watch her first run, where she led Sweden’s Anna Swenn Larsson by .69 seconds. Then awakened again to watch the second run (first run leader skis last, so her run was about 8:15 am Eastern), where she finished with a winning margin of .92 seconds over Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener. Swenn Larsson finished third to round out the podium.

Stenmark and other skiing experts feel that Shiffrin’s career will see her top 100 World Cup victories. In the meantime, she doesn’t have any more such clear benchmarks. She will break the record anew with every victory she has from now on, but she is only racing herself.

FIS Alpine just posted a YouTube video of her races today.

x YouTube Video

And, where Sports Illustrated nearly ignored her passing Lindsey Vonn for the Women’s record, they have reported on it today, which is good.

Thank you, Mikaela, for your incredible achievements and example. Congratulations, and best wishes in the remainder of your career.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/11/2157466/-Mikaela-Shiffrin-did-it-87th-World-Cup-victory-GOAT

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/