Mikaela Shiffrin capped her season, which was marred by a six-week injury layoff, with her record-extending 60th slalom victory and 97th overall at Saturday’s World Cup final in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria.
The American star trailed Sweden’s Anna Swenn Larsson after the first run, but ultimately won the season-ending slalom by 0.54 seconds over Norway’s Mina Fuerst Holtmann, while Swenn Larsson dropped to third, 0.63 slower than the pace.
Shiffrin had already clinched her record-equalling eighth slalom season title last week in her first race since hurting her knee on a downhill in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy in January.
The two-time Olympic champion sprained the MCL and tibiofibular ligament in her knee while also still recovering from a bone bruise suffered at the start of the season.
“Oh wow, it’s been a wild season,” Shiffrin said in a TV interview during the course. “I’m happy that the last race of the season went so well. I’m already looking forward to next season.”
Asked about her number of wins, Shiffrin took a deep breath before answering.
“It’s just a little hard to process it all. It’s like these days make me feel so invigorated, so alive, and that’s what I’m focusing on. I’m trying to take all that in,” she said.
“I never really focused too much on the numbers, but now I feel good about it, like it’s not pressure, it’s nothing, it’s just an honor.”
With main rivals Petra Vlhová and Wendy Holdener ending their campaigns prematurely due to injuries, Shiffrin has won seven slaloms this season, bringing her career tally to 60. No other skier, male or female, has won more than 46 races in a single discipline.
Shiffrin, who turned 29 on Wednesday, said on Instagram the slalom would be her final race of the season, skipping Sunday’s giant slalom and next week’s speed events.
On a first run course by Shiffrin’s coach Karin Harjo, Swenn Larsson was 0.11 seconds faster than Shiffrin.
“I felt really good on my skis, I thought my equipment was set up really well for this run. I was pushing,” Shiffrin said, referring to the challenging track conditions after overnight rain softened the snow.
“It was quite okay, so I could ski the way I wanted. Ideally, I could perhaps be a bit neater in a few areas, but actually I think I achieved the maximum there.”
Shiffrin had won the seasonal slalom at the traditional World Cup final six times earlier in her career, a record, but not since 2019.
The next women’s race in the final is Sunday’s giant slalom, when Swiss leader Lara Gut-Behrami starts with a 95-point lead over her Italian challenger Federica Brignone.