Mikaela Shiffrin unable to comprehend GOAT status after breaking Lindsey Vonn’s female skiing record

Mikaela Shiffrin may now be the most successful skier in women’s World Cup history, but she isn’t quite sure of her status as the sport’s Greatest Of All Time.

But Shiffrin is keeping level-headed and admits that she doesn’t even know how to feel about being anointed the greatest ever.

“No, I don’t know what that’s supposed to feel like,” she said in an interview with CNN.

“But what does it even mean? It’s just…I mean, I get it, I do get it. I understand it. It’s just putting an emotion or feeling on it…I can’t wrap it up into words, it’s just a lot.

“Maybe someday, but right now I just feel like a ski racer and I’m having a dang good season.

“But the greatest of all time? I don’t think that’s something you feel – for me.

“Maybe some people do and kudos to them, but I’m not there.”

Shiffrin’s record-breaking run for her 83rd win came in dramatic fashion as she overhauled Lara Gut-Behrami with a stunning run to win by 0.45 seconds.

The following day, Shiffrin won by a big margin of 0.82 seconds from Norway’s Ragnhild Mowinckel for back-to-back victories.

With two slalom races in Spindleruv Mlyn this weekend, Shiffrin could equal Stenmark’s record, but she says the secret to her success is actually trying not to obsess over victories and focus on just skiing well.

“Every day I’m trying to focus on my skiing and actually trying to improve and that’s where I’m the happiest. That’s what I really enjoy doing, of course.

“But you know, the point of ski racing is to win. It’s a timed sport and it’s to have the fastest time on the mountain.

“It’s hard to separate this idea like ‘I’m just trying to make my best turns’ from ‘I just want to win this race’.

“Any time that I’ve ever thought about winning, I don’t. And any time that I think about my skiing, I actually have a chance.

“In the last two days, it was a really pretty perfect balance of focusing on the right thing at the right time that made winning these races possible.”

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