As the 2022/23 ski season winds down, I’d be remiss in not mentioning this. History was made.
The term “greatest of all time” gets thrown around in sports way more than it should but I think in the case of Mikaela, it’s warranted. Here, I’ll Google it for you:
- 88 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup career wins. Shiffrin ranks first of all-time, two ahead of the previous record holder, Ingemar Stenmark (86) and six ahead of the previous women’s record holder, Lindsey Vonn (82). Until Shiffrin broke it this year, Stenmark’s record had stood 34 years, since 1989.
- 15 World Cup Globes. In her 13 seasons, Shiffrin has won 5 overall Crystal Globes and 10 discipline globes (7 in slalom, 2 in giant slalom, 1 in super-G). Her 10 discipline globes lead all active skiers. Her seven slalom titles are an all-time record in one discipline.
- 53 World Cup slalom wins. The most for any skier, male or female, in one discipline.
- 21 World Cup giant slalom wins. That is one more than the previous women’s record held by Vreni Schneider.
- 138 World Cup podiums. That is one more than Lindsey Vonn’s previous women’s record and includes 76 in slalom, the most in a single discipline for a woman.
- 17 single-season victories. Set by Shiffrin in 2018/19, that’s the FIS World Cup record for the most wins in one season.
- Shiffrin is the only person, man or woman, to have won a race in each of the World Cup’s six disciplines (downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom, combined, and parallel).
- 14 World Championship medals: 7 golds, 4 silvers, and 3 bronzes
- 3 Winter Olympic medals: 2 golds and 1 silver.
Just some of her incredible stats. And at 28 years old, she’s not exactly stopping.
I grew up watching Ingemar Stenmark racing in the ‘70s and ‘80s, dominating his competitors and ticking off wins like clockwork. And like watching Michael Jordan in basketball, Usain Bolt in track, or Serena Williams in tennis, I remember thinking well, we’ll never see anything like that again.
And then here comes Mikaela, ski racer, and apparently, reindeer mom.