Mikaela Shiffrin had the second-best time behind Olympic champion Petra Vlhova in the first run of a night slalom Tuesday as the American goes for a record 83rd win on the women’s World Cup circuit in Flachau, Austria.
Shiffrin, who entered the race tied with fellow American Lindsey Vonn with 82 wins each, clocked 56.07 seconds, 0.17 behind Vlhova going into the second run.
Starting first in the opening run, Shiffrin didn’t make any glaring errors on her way down the flood-lit Griessenkar course but Vlhova, who started sixth, knew where to be careful and where to charge more after several other skiers struggled.
Vlhova, a former overall World Cup champion from Slovakia who is Shiffrin’s biggest rival, is seeking her first win of the season after seven podium finishes.
Shiffrin will start next to last in the second run, which starts at 2:45 p.m. ET.
Zrinka Ljutic of Croatia was third in 56.48, 0.58 behind Vlhova.
Lena Duerr of Germany was faster than Shiffrin at the final checkpoint before a big mistake over a roll cost her a large chunk of time. Still, Duerr was fourth in 56.86, 0.96 behind Vlhova.
Most women’s World Cup victories
- 82: Lindsey Vonn, United States (2001-19)
- 82: Mikaela Shiffrin, United States (2012-23)
- 62: Annemarie Moser-Pröll, Austria (1969-80)
- 55: Vreni Schneider, Switzerland (1984-95)
- 46: Renate Gotschl, Austria (1993-2009)
- 42: Anja Parson, Sweden (1998-2012)
- 37: Marlies Schild, Austria (2001-14)
- 36: Katja Seizinger, Germany (1989-98)
Three Canadians completed the opening run. Laurence St-Germain of Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Que., led the way in seventh in 57.35, followed by Toronto’s Ali Nullmeyer (18th, 58.49) and Amelia Smart of Invermere, B.C., (22nd, 59.04).
Slalom is Shiffrin’s best event, the discipline that has accounted for 51 of her 82 wins, four of which came in Flachau.
WATCH | Shiffrin discusses what her record-tying win means to her:
Shiffrin talks about what it means to tie Lindsey Vonn atop the World Cup career wins list.
Shiffrin has already won four of the six slaloms this season, including the last two.
No wonder she feels confident about setting the record in the hometown of Hermann Maier, another one of the most successful racers in the sport.
“If I ski my best slalom, I have a really good chance to take the victory,” Shiffrin said. “But there’s a lot of other athletes who are sick of that, so we’ll see what happens.”
While not quite as rowdy as the nearby men’s night slalom in Schladming, the Flachau race usually attracts a decent crowd of about 15,000 spectators.
Breaking the record in Austria, a country where ski racing is the top sport, would be memorable.
“It’s pretty impressive that the top two female skiers of all time are Americans in a sport historically dominated by Europeans,” Vonn wrote in a guest column for The Associated Press. “We’re 20 wins ahead of the next woman [Annemarie Moser-Pröll of Austria with 62 wins], which is a substantial margin.
35 per cent win rate
“So, it’s not even really close. It just speaks for our country as a whole and what we’re capable of doing.”
WATCH | Shiffrin ties Vonn’s record with 82nd World Cup win:
The legendary American skier topped the giant slalom podium at the alpine World Cup event in Slovenia.
Her 82 wins have come in 233 races for a 35 per cent win rate. In other words, Shiffrin wins one of about every three races she enters. And she has finished on the podium in more than half of her races, 129 out of 233, or 55 per cent.
What’s more is Shiffrin is only 27, while Vonn was 33 when she got to 82. Shiffrin could compete for many more years and win many more races, perhaps even set the new standard above 100 wins.
It seems like a foregone conclusion that Shiffrin will also soon break Ingemar Stenmark’s overall record — between men and women — of 86 wins.
So, then the question is, will Shiffrin be considered the greatest skier ever?
Piero Gros, the 1976 Olympic slalom champion from Italy who raced against Stenmark, said there’s no point in comparing racers from different eras.
“Shiffrin is up there in paradise. What more can an athlete do? She’s extraordinary. And I’m sure she’s still struggling inside after the loss of her father,” Gros said, referring to when Shiffrin’s father, Jeff, died three years ago. “We know how much talent she has but she clearly also has a lot of inner strength.
“The Americans always seem to produce these champions, which is incredible in this European world of skiing.”
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