After winning the Giant Slalom event in Are, Sweden, Mikaela Shiffrin tied legendary skier Ingemar Stenmark with 86 World Cup wins. Shiffrin, 27, took the top spot on the podium with a time of 1:54.64. That was 0.64 seconds faster than Federica Brignone, who finished second in the event.
After the race, Shiffrin spoke to TV6 about tying Stenmark, one of the most accomplished Swedish athletes of all-time. Shiffrin said it's an honor just to be in the company of someone like him.
"No matter what I do, it doesn't ever compare to what you achieved," Shiffrin said, via ESPN. "Maybe I get the 87th victory, maybe not. But for me, the biggest dream is to be mentioned in the same sentence as you."
86 WINS FOR MIKAELA‼️@MikaelaShiffrin ties Ingemar Stenmark for the most World Cup victories by an alpine skier in HISTORY. 🥇
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) March 10, 2023
(🎥 @usalpineskiteam)pic.twitter.com/HpRQJ7OLgz
Shiffrin also admitted that she's been thinking a lot about the possibility of tying Stenmark, and the milestone has been a bit of a distraction since she picked up her 85th race in January.
"It's been on my mind," Shiffrin said. "It's been quite tough to focus the last few weeks."
In his lengthy skiing career, Stenmark filled up his trophy case with 86 World Cup wins, five World Championship gold medals and two Olympic gold medals.
Along with matching Stenmark in his World Cup success, Shiffrin has also won seven gold medals at the World Championships and two Olympic gold medals.
