ARE, Sweden (AP) — Moments after successful her record-tying 86th World Cup race, Mikaela Shiffrin was requested by a Swedish broadcaster to straight deal with Ingemar Stenmark, the snowboarding standout who had promised to observe at residence on tv.
From one nice to a different, the 27-year-old American spoke to the 66-year-old Swede of her respect for him and the historic mark he set in 1989 that was lengthy regarded as past attain.
“It doesn’t matter what I do, it doesn’t ever evaluate to what you achieved,” Shiffrin stated into the TV6 digital camera from the lakeside resort. “Perhaps I get the 87th victory, perhaps not. However for me the largest dream is to be talked about in the identical sentence as you.”
Shiffrin matched the Swede’s mark by successful a large slalom on Friday. She will be able to break the document on Saturday in a slalom race. These are her specialties, simply as they had been for Stenmark within the Nineteen Seventies and 80s.
The reverence between the 2 goes each methods. Stenmark told The Associated Press in an interview final month that Shiffrin is “a lot better than I used to be.”
She was definitely good Friday, particularly in a standout first run that was the platform for yet one more dominating win in her storied profession. Her time within the morning sunshine was a couple of second quicker than her highest-ranked rivals and ultimately left her with a lead of 0.58 seconds to defend in second run.
Clearly happy along with her snowboarding within the opening run, Shiffrin smiled and stated “yeah” to herself after seeing her time within the end space.
“It’s one of many few runs in my life the place, whereas I used to be snowboarding it, I used to be pondering, ‘That is good,’” Shiffrin advised TV6.
Shiffrin went out extra cautiously beneath the floodlights within the fast-darkening afternoon, tapping her ski poles collectively 4 instances within the begin hut earlier than setting out with 1.04 seconds in hand over then-leader Federica Brignone.
The lead was lower to 0.57 seconds halfway down the slope earlier than Shiffrin skied cleanly in sections the place Brignone’s aggressive pushing had led to errors. The successful margin was 0.64 seconds.
Shiffrin crossed the end line and put her arms to her helmet, then to her face and shook her head slowly whereas taking within the enormity of her achievement.
“That is only a spectacular day. Oh my goodness,” she stated in a course-side interview.
It was Shiffrin’s fourth straight wire-to-wire win in World Cup big slaloms since January. In that point, she additionally took gold within the occasion eventually month’s world championships in Meribel, France.
“After I was little I’d by no means have believed some day I’d be on this place,” Shiffrin later advised Swiss broadcaster SRF. “The entire day I used to be attempting to not give attention to that.”
Shiffrin’s 86th victory got here in her 245th World Cup race, and on the fifth try to equal Stenmark’s document since she gained her eighty fifth race in January.
“It’s been on my thoughts. It’s been fairly robust to focus the previous couple of weeks,” stated Shiffrin, who hugged her mom and coach, Eileen, within the end space.
Brignone made a theatrical bow towards Shiffrin within the finish-area ceremony. The rostrum included Olympic champion Sara Hector of Sweden, who completed 0.92 seconds behind in third.
Shiffrin additionally clinched the season-long World Cup big slalom title to safe her fifteenth profession crystal globe trophy. She already gained her fifth general World Cup title and the slalom title this season.
Making much more World Cup historical past Friday, Shiffrin’s twentieth profession victory within the big slalom — six of them this season — matched the all-time girls’s mark held by Vreni Schneider.
Schneider acquired her wins between 1984 and 1992. The Swiss racer, like Shiffrin, additionally has Olympic and world championship gold medals in each big slalom and slalom.
Shiffrin gained her first World Cup race in Are, a slalom in December 2012, after which earned two gold medals on the 2019 worlds on the Swedish resort. It was additionally the place she was as a consequence of race once more in March 2020 after the dying of her father the earlier month, however the races had been known as off due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’ve had a fairly just a few completely different experiences right here,” Shiffrin stated after her first run on Friday. “I’ve felt every thing you may really feel right here so it’s particular to be again.”
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