Photo: PIERRE TEYSSOT/AFP via Getty Images
Mikaela Shiffrinsecured her 82nd victory on Sunday and is on the cusp of becoming the all-time winningest World cup female skier.
The two-time Olympic medalist, 27, tiedLindsey Vonnwith her win in the giant slalom and stands poised to break Vonn’s record on Tuesday night in Austria.
“I was so nervous this run,” Shiffrintold reporters following the race, according to the Associated Press. “I have a rash on my face, I was so nervous. I don’t know why, maybe a little bit was because of 82. I just really wanted to ski well, and I did.”
Shiffrin led from start to finish on the steep Slovenian course, and was able to pull out the win despite dark and bumpy course conditions, the AP reported.
“It was a fight,” she said, per the AP. “But it was pretty amazing conditions, and I got a report from the coaches and they were like, ‘It’s really attackable, so just go for it. I’ve been in this position before and I’ve given it away, and today I wanted to fight for it.”
PIERRE TEYSSOT/AFP via Getty Images
“My dad used to be there and taking pictures,” Mikaela said, per the AP. “Most races these days I’ll think about him and I’m able to kind of refocus. But when I’m singing the national anthem [it’s different]. It was just before I ever won my first World Cup, he said, ‘You better memorize the words of the national anthem, because if you ever win, you better sing it.’ And so I always think about him when I’m up there.”
Shiffrin’s win comes less than a year after shewon her fourth World Cup overall title. Just one month previously, she failed to medal in the Beijing Olympic games.
“There were many moments this season that have been very great,” Shiffrin said at the time, perNBC Sports.“But there’s also been some very low moments. It’s the lowest I’ve ever felt in my career, in my life as well. Not just skiing, but as a human, there’s been moments where I feel the weight of everything so much that it’s just a terrible feeling.”
Continued Shiffrin, “After the Olympics, [the overall] was the final goal that was still possible to achieve. It felt like all the biggest goals I had this season, I didn’t do anything. Now this is very special.”
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The skier has a 35% winning percentage,according to the U.S.Ski & Snowboard Team, meaning she has won one out of every three races that she’s competed in since her first World Cup win in 2012 as a 17-year-old.
source: people.com
