Mikaela Shiffrin on 'wild' season after recovering from Killington crash to claim 100 World Cup wins
Published 26/02/2025 at 17:24 GMT
Mikaela Shiffrin said she had been on "quite a journey" this season after claiming a 100th career World Cup win in the women's slalom event in Sestriere, Italy on Sunday. Months before the milestone victory, she suffered a puncture wound to her abdomen and severe muscle trauma when crashing out of an event in Killington. Shiffrin now has 14 more World Cup wins than the next-best downhill skier.
Shiffrin's road to 100 World Cup wins
Video credit: TNT Sports
Mikaela Shiffrin conceded she had been on "quite a journey" this season after claiming a 100th career World Cup win just months after injuring herself in a crash.
Shiffrin became the first downhill skier to reach 100 World Cup wins after she finished 0.61 seconds ahead of the field in the women’s slalom event in Sestriere, Italy on Sunday.
She claimed her 99th victory three months ago, before suffering a puncture wound to her abdomen and severe muscle trauma when crashing out of an event in Killington, Vermont.
Shiffrin told CNN: "It’s been quite a journey this season after the crash in Killington, the injury, working back to getting my oblique functioning, work through the wound care and the whole puncture situation.
"It’s been wild the last few months just to get back to the start gate and back on skis. It all kind of came bubbling to the surface and yeah – no shortage of tears on Sunday, that’s for sure."
The American is already in a class of her own, having racked up 14 more World Cup wins than the next-best downhill skier Ingemar Stenmark and 18 more than the next woman on the all-time list, Lindsey Vonn.
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‘What’s now possible?’ – Shiffrin reveals ‘biggest goal’ after historic 100th World Cup win
Video credit: TNT Sports
Indeed, her win in Italy saw the two-time Olympic champion also equal Stenmark’s record of 155 World Cup podium finishes.
"It’s been hard enough to process just skiing the last few weeks," Shiffrin said. "The overall number is a symbol of a lot of work, teamwork and effort from my coaches, my ski technicians, physical therapists, technical staff and the whole US ski team.
"It’s a symbol of a bigger picture - take care of the details, stay true to how you feel you need to do things in order to be the best you can be."
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Shiffrin added that she is not done yet, though she’s now motivated to return to her best after recovering from the crash, rather than by a milestone or goal.
"It feels like I have more in me," she said. "But with this latest injury there’s also a part of me that wonders if I’m going to be able to get back to that level.
"So right now my biggest goal has nothing to do with results, it’s not about milestones, it’s really just about deep-diving within myself to see what’s now possible after everything that’s happened.
"There’s this feeling of 100 almost being like resetting to zero, this idea of resetting the sport. I feel like I’m resetting myself a little bit, and I’m hoping to, I guess, ride that wave and see where it goes."
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