Mikaela Shiffrin ends season with record 21st GS win

SOLDEU, Andorra — Mikaela Shiffrin won her 21st career giant slalom in Sunday’s World Cup final as the American star finished the season with another record.

The win moved Shiffrin ahead of Vreni Schneider, a week after equaling the Swiss skier’s mark of 20 GS World Cup wins. The American has won seven of the last eight events and won the GS world title last month.

The overall record, between men and women, is held by the great Swede Ingemar Stenmark, who won 46 giant slaloms in the 1970s and 1980s.

“I don’t know, you’re telling me,” Shiffrin laughed when asked about possible next records during an on-course interview, conducted by her boyfriend and downhill world champion. , Aleksander Aamodt Kilde.

“Just keep pushing forward,” added Shiffrin, who won the overall, slalom and GS titles this season and extended the all-time record for most career wins to 88.

After Kilde asked him about improvement plans for next season, Shiffrin joked: “We can discuss that later, privately.”

Shiffrin also set a personal-best 2,206 World Cup points in 31 starts this season, two points more than her total from 2018-19, when she appeared in 26 races.

Only one skier has scored more points in a single season: Slovenian great Tina Maze ended her 2012-13 campaign with 2,414 points.

Sunday’s result also marked Shiffrin’s 138th career World Cup podium, edging out former teammate Lindsey Vonn’s mark of 137.

But for Shiffrin, his favorite personal best came nine years ago.

“Honestly, I think I’m probably the youngest Olympic champion in slalom. It was really the only record I ever wanted, like really a goal,” said Shiffrin, who was 18 when she won her first Olympic gold medal at the Sochi Games in 2014.

“It happened quite a while ago, and I’m still motivated today, I still had that nervous feeling up there. I was so nervous at first…because you mean well. And no matter the records, it’s just that you want to do well.

As the sun shone on the Avet course, Shiffrin held on to a first-run lead to edge Thea Louise Stjernesund by 0.06 seconds. The Norwegian clinched her first career podium.

Canadian skier Valérie Grenier finished third, trailing Shiffrin by 0.20.

Three of the seven top-ranked runners failed to complete their opening runs as Petra Vlhova, who won Saturday’s slalom, Federica Brignone and Olympic champion Sara Hector all missed a gate.

Former two-time world champion Tessa Worley placed 11th in what she said was the last race of her career. The French GS specialist has won 16 races and three season titles, the most recent being last year.

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