Mikaela Shiffrin sets single-season mark with 9th World Cup slalom win

There aren't many records left for Mikaela Shiffrin to break.

Shiffrin set the single-season record for most World Cup wins in one discipline Tuesday, March 24, with her ninth victory in 10 slalom races. That's one more slalom win than she had in 2019, when she set the single-season record for World Cup victories with 17.

And those nine wins this season don't include Shiffrin's gold medal at the Milano Cortina Olympics.

"This season has been so exciting. Quite like a whirlwind with all the wonderful races that we had, the Olympics and everything," Shiffrin said. "It’s been really pushing at a high level for a long time. And I am grateful for it."

Her record-setting ways might not be over yet, either.

Shiffrin has a commanding lead over Germany's Emma Aicher in the overall race, and needs to finish just 15th or better in the season's final race, the giant slalom at the World Cup finals on Wednesday, March 25 in Lillehammer, Norway. It would be Shiffrin's sixth overall title, tying Annemarie Moser-Pröll's record for most by a female Alpine skier.

Marcel Hirscher holds the record for overall titles, with eight.

"You saw today, anything could happen," Shiffrin said, referring to the men's giant slalom title, which went to Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen after previous leader Marco Odermatt DNFd on his first run.

"Nothing is secure," Shiffrin added. "Just breathe and ski."

Regardless of what happens, being part of this race with the 22-year-old Aicher has been a joy for Shiffrin.

"There’s a new era of the greatest overall skier and I’m so excited to watch what she does in the future," Shiffrin said of Aicher. "For now we have one more race. ... We're both going to try and get a nap probably and then give it one last push."

Shiffrin was on the podium in every slalom race this season — she finished second in the one race she didn't win — and had the season title wrapped up back in January. It's her ninth season slalom title, which is also, you guessed it, a record.

Even more impressive than the wins: Shiffrin's margin of victory was almost 1.2 seconds. That included the World Cup Final, where Shiffrin's time of 2:07.61 in the World Cup finals was 1.32 seconds ahead of Wendy Holdener of Switzerland.

Aicher was third, 0.04 seconds behind Holdener.

In a sport where races are often decided by tenths or hundredths of a point, that type of dominance is astounding. When Shiffrin bumped Holdener down to second following her first run, Holdener, a two-time Olympic medalist in slalom, held up her hands as if to say, "What are you going to do?"

Indeed.

Shiffrin is the best slalom skier in history, with 73 of her record 110 World Cup wins coming in the discipline. But she's skiing on another level this season. Her technique is near-perfect, her turns precise and fluid.

It's her speed that sets her apart, though. While other skiers look almost deliberate as they carve their way down the course, Shiffrin looks to be sprinting.

She had the fastest time through each sector of the course in the first run, which she won by 1.10 seconds. On the second run, despite her huge cushion, Shiffrin posted the fourth-fastest time in the bottom two sections.

Even her mother Eileen, who is also one of Shiffrin's coaches, was impressed, saying "Wow" as Shiffrin crossed the finish line.

"This is just a symbol of the work that my team has been putting in and all the support I’ve had these years. Especially the last three years," said Shiffrin, referring to the injuries that cost her large chunks of the previous two seasons.

"To get back to the chance to be at that high level and win a globe, with the injuries and everything, took a big effort from my team," Shiffrin said. "That’s totally something we did together."