With her 36th career World Cup victory in slalom at Semmering (AUT) on Saturday, Mikaela Shiffrin of the U.S. passed Austrian Marlies Schild in the history books to become the most successful female slalom skier of all time. She also became the first World Cup skier, male or female, to win 15 World Cup races in a single calendar year (2018). Shiffrin came into the weekend tied with Marcel Hirscher of Austria with 14 wins in 2018 after both passed the previous record holder, Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark, who won 13 races in 1977 and again in 1979. Hirscher is not scheduled to race again until New Year’s Day.
She was also tied with childhood hero Marlies Schild of Austria for most career world cup slalom wins with 35.
Mikaela Shiffrin held almost a half-second lead after the first run over closest rival Petra Vlhova of Slovakia, who won Friday's giant slalom race. The American was able to hold on for the win by a 0.29-second margin. Wendy Holdener of Switzerland rounded out the podium in third after skiing the fastest second run. Olympic champion Frida Hansdotter, who sat third after the first run, skied out on the second run in conditions that challenged a number of competitors.
A firm surface with some tough turns contributed to 19 skiers failing to finish or being disqualified in the first run and an additional five athletes not finishing the second run.
Mikaela Shiffrin, who now has 51 total wins on the world cup circuit, has 1,034 points in the overall world cup title race, nearly double that of Vlhova in second place (568). Shiffrin is already the two-time defending overall world cup champion.
A firm surface with some tough turns contributed to 19 skiers failing to finish or being disqualified in the first run and an additional five athletes not finishing the second run.
Mikaela Shiffrin, who now has 51 total wins on the world cup circuit, has 1,034 points in the overall world cup title race, nearly double that of Vlhova in second place (568). Shiffrin is already the two-time defending overall world cup champion.