‘Perfect on the skis’: Mikaela Shiffrin caps record-breaking year with brace of dominant victories

For American skier Mikaela Shiffrin, 2023 was the year in which she sealed her place in the record books, overtaking the legendary Ingemar Stenmark to tally the most World Cup wins of any skier in history.

For American Mikaela Shiffrin, 2023 was the year in which she sealed her place in the record books, overtaking the legendary Ingemar Stenmark to tally the most World Cup wins of any skier in history. It seems fitting, then, that Shiffrin capped the year with two consecutive victories at Lienz, Austria, extending her record to 93 career World Cup wins in dominant style. Her giant slalom success on Thursday was followed by a slalom victory a day later, which she won by 2.34 seconds, an enormous margin rarely seen in the discipline. “Today was a very special day for me,” the 28-year-old told the FIS website after her slalom win on Friday. “I felt perfect on the skis so I’m super happy.” Shiffrin led the field by more than a second after an electrifying first run and, instead of holding back on the second run, the American skier extended her advantage with a flawless performance. “First run, second run were totally different courses — different timing, different flow,” added Shiffrin. “And I felt I just had a really good plan and my coaches pointed out the really key sections of the course and then I was good to go.”