Shiffrin closes season with record 21st GS win

SOLDEU, Andorra — Mikaela Shiffrin won her 21st career giant slalom at the World Cup finals Sunday as the American standout ended the season with yet another record.

The victory moved Shiffrin past Vreni Schneider, a week after matching the Swiss skier’s mark of 20 World Cup giant slalom victories. The American has won seven of the past eight events and took the giant slalom world title last month.

The overall record, between men and women, is held by Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark, who won 46 giant slaloms in the 1970s and ’80s.

“I don’t know, you guys tell me,” Shiffrin said with a laugh when she was asked about possible next records in a courseside interview conducted by her boyfriend and World Cup downhill champion, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde. “Just keep moving right along,”

When Kilde asked her about plans to improve for next season, Shiffrin quipped: “We can discuss that later, in private.”

Shiffrin secured the overall, slalom and giant slalom titles this season and extended the all-time record for most career wins to 88.

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

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

Sunday’s result also marked Shiffrin’s record 138th career World Cup podium, moving her one ahead of former teammate Lindsey Vonn’s mark of 137.

But for Shiffrin, her personal favorite record came nine years ago.

“Honestly, I think probably being the youngest Olympic slalom champion. That was really the only record that I actually ever wanted, like really shot for,” said Shiffrin, who was 18 when she won her first Olympic gold at the 2014 Sochi Games. “It happened quite some time ago, and I’m still motivated today; I still had that nervous feeling up there. I was so nervous at the start … because you want to do well. And it doesn’t matter about records. It’s just you want to do well.”

With the sun beaming down on the Avet course, Shiffrin held on to her first-run lead to edge Thea Louise Stjernesund by 0.06 seconds. The Norwegian earned her first career podium.

Canadian skier Valerie Grenier was third, trailing Shiffrin by 0.20.

Three of the top seven ranked racers did not finish their first runs, as Petra Vlhova, who won Saturday’s slalom, Federica Brignone and Olympic champion Sara Hector all missed a gate.

Two-time former world champion Tessa Worley placed 11th in what she said would be the final race of her career. The French giant slalom specialist has won 16 races and three season titles, most recently last year.