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Mikaela Shiffrin sped past fellow American Lindsey Vonn to claim her place as the most successful female alpine skier in history after winning her 83rd race on Tuesday, i.e. 24th January, 2023.
Heading into the giant slalom race, Shiffrin was tied with former skier Linsey Vonn for 82 career World Cup wins. Despite the pressure piling up, Shiffrin managed to edge out her competitors with a time of 2:00 minutes and 00.61 seconds. Speaking after her historic race, Shiffrin said:
"There's too much excitement to feel and it's hard to explain. I just try to breathe a bit and enjoy it and I'm excited for two more runs tomorrow as it's in really good condition."
Switzerland's Lara Gut-Behrami, who won the Super-G Olympic gold medal in Beijing 2022, finished second - just 0.45 seconds behind Shiffrin. Italy's very own Federica Brignone took advantage of the home crowd to grab the bronze medal.
Shiffrin's win triggered a social media frenzy
After the American took her place as the greatest female athlete in the business, fans across the globe took the opportunity to make their opinions known. The collective message was clear and can be summarized by this tweet!
Many fans rallied behind the athlete to show their support and congratulate Shiffrin on her historic feat.
Some fans took to social media to shine a light not just on her victory, but on its dominant nature. Shiffrin got to the 83-win mark much faster than Vonn did to get to 82. She did it with a total of 131 races, in comparison to Vonn's 137. Third-placed Austrian legend Annemarie Moser-Pröll is more than 20 wins behind Shiffrin.
It looks like Shiffrin still has a few years ahead of her to try and achieve an even bigger feat, after all, she's only 27.
Shiffrin is on Stenmark's tail
The American skier is just three wins away from tying Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark's all-time win record.
Steinmark currently holds the title of the greatest skier in the history of the sport, with a total of 86 career World Cup wins. Mikaela Shiffrin has an opportunity to up her tally to 84 today as she prepares to compete in the second giant slalom event in Kronplatz.
