Mikaela Shiffrin gets 85th World Cup victory, pulling within one of Ingemar Stenmark
Another race, another win for Mikaela Shiffrin.
The American won her 85th World Cup race on Saturday, leaving her just one behind Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark’s all-gender record. She could tie Stenmark as early as Sunday.
Shiffrin’s win Saturday, in a slalom at Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, was her third in as many races and 11th of the season. She had the fastest time in the first run and, with Germany's Lena Duerr throwing down a challenge just ahead of her, was even better in the second.
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"I knew it would take some risk, and there's a chance I don’t finish at all," Shiffrin said.
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But she did, her combined time a commanding 0.60 seconds ahead of Duerr. Wendy Holdener of Switzerland was third, 1.31 seconds behind Shiffrin.
Though Shiffrin can catch Stenmark on Sunday, it will be a month, at the earliest, before she can surpass him. The World Cup circuit takes a break after this weekend for the world championships, which are Feb. 6-19 in France. It resumes Feb. 23-26 with two downhills and a super-G in Crans Montana, Switzerland.
Shiffrin's best chance to surpass Stenmark are likely to come in his home country, with giant slalom and slalom races in Are on March 10 and 11. Of her World Cup wins, 52 are in slalom and 19 are in giant slalom.
"I'm not worried about it," Shiffrin said when asked how important it is to get No. 86. "I thought today, if I don’t finish the race I don’t care. As long as I ski the best turns I can do."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mikaela Shiffrin gets 85th World Cup victory, pulling within one of Ingemar Stenmark