Mikaela Shiffrin on breaking Ingemar Stenmark’s Alpine skiing World Cup wins record – ‘An unbelievable day’

The giant slalom and slalom in Are will be looked back on in years to come as Shiffrin equalled Stenmark’s 86 victories on Friday, then broke it on Saturday.

Are was also the venue where the 27-year-old won her first World Cup race in December 2012 and she has since been the skier to beat in the technical disciplines on the women’s tour.

“It got a little bit more emotional when I saw my brother and sister-in-law at the finish,” Shiffrin told Eurosport. “I didn’t know they were coming, it was a surprise.

“Taylor, Chrissy and my mum were the first people I saw, I was like, ‘what are you doing? We are in Sweden, we are not even close to the US.

“That just brought everything to a total mess! An unbelievable day.”

Shiffrin has had one of her most successful seasons in the sport, with her 13 World Cup wins resulting in her already securing the overall, giant slalom and slalom Crystal Globes.

She also won three medals at the World Championships, including gold in the giant slalom.

The American has openly discussed her enjoyment for the sport over the last six months and loving the feeling of skiing at the highest level, which she alluded to post-race.

“It’s pretty hard to comprehend,” said Shiffrin when asked about breaking Stenmark’s record. The best feeling is to ski on the second run because you have a lead and you have to be smart. I just wanted to be fast too and ski the second run like its own race. I did it exactly how I wanted and that’s amazing.

“To the whole team and all the people who have helped me this whole season and whole career, all these people reaching out now after all these years, it’s pretty incredible. I just want to say thank you for that.”

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