Mikaela Shiffrin earns 99th World Cup win, eyes No. 100 at home

Mikaela Shiffrin has earned her 99th World Cup win and can reach 100 on home snow in Killington, Vermont, next weekend.

Shiffrin, already the Alpine skiing World Cup victories record holder, won a slalom on a second consecutive Saturday, prevailing in Gurgl, Austria.

She topped Albanian Lara Colturi by 55 hundredths of a second combining times from two runs.

Colturi, an 18-year-old born in Italy, became the youngest Alpine skier to make a World Cup podium in five years and the first ever from Albania.

ALPINE SKIING: Broadcast Schedule

Shiffrin had the fastest first run by 13 hundredths over Swiss Wendy Holdener, who ended up fourth behind another Swiss, Camille Rast. Rast, 25, also made her first individual World Cup podium.

“I was really nervous on the top,” for the second run, Shiffrin said. “I could hear all the women going down, and their teams were cheering, and that always means they had a really good run. It was getting sort of darker, and I was like, s—, I don’t think it’s happening today.”

Shiffrin next has two opportunities to grab a 100th World Cup win at the next women’s World Cup stop in Vermont, the state where she attended Burke Mountain Academy as a kid.

The Killington Cup includes a giant slalom next Saturday and a slalom next Sunday, both airing live on NBC Sports and Peacock. Shiffrin won the slalom in Killington in six of the seven years it has been held.

“I guess there’s a bit of pressure around it, but I’ll try to ignore that,” she said. “If it happens, it’s wonderful. If it doesn’t happen, nothing to cry about in the grand scheme. I hope to have a really good performance in front of the home crowd.”

Shiffrin’s primary slalom rival, Olympic gold medalist Petra Vlhova of Slovakia, is sidelined after right knee surgery last winter. Vlhova’s team announced last week that she plans to return to on-snow training by the start of December.

Shiffrin’s 154th career Alpine World Cup podium on Saturday moved her one shy of that record held by Swede Ingemar Stenmark, who raced in the 1970s and ‘80s.

In March 2023, Shiffrin broke Stenmark’s record for Alpine World Cup wins, which was 86.

The individual World Cup wins record across all Winter Olympic disciplines is 114 — held by Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen, who retired in 2018 as the all-time Winter Olympic medals leader with 15.

The men race a slalom in Gurgl on Sunday, live on Peacock.

2024 FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup Results — Gurgl Women’s Slalom

1. Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) — 1:40.22
2. Lara Colturi (ALB) — +0.55
3. Camille Rast (SUI) — +0.57
4. Wendy Holdener (SUI) – +0.75
5. Lena Duerr (GER) — +0.80
6. Paula Moltzan (USA) — +1.10
7. Katharina Liensberger (AUT) — +1.14
8. Sara Hector (SWE) — +1.22
9. Zrinka Ljutic (CRO) — +1.63
10. Melanie Meillard (SUI) — +1.91