EDITOR鈥橲 NOTE: Lindsey Vonn has been keeping track while Mikaela Shiffrin first matched her women鈥檚 World Cup skiing record of 82 wins earlier this month and then surpassed it with win No. 83 on Tuesday at a giant slalom in Italy.
Vonn offered her thoughts earlier this month about the record just before Shiffrin won her 82nd race.
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I鈥檓 really happy for Mikaela.
Records are meant to be broken and it鈥檚 a sign of progress. And if anyone is to break my record, I鈥檓 really happy that it鈥檚 an American.
She鈥檚 going to continue pushing the limits and continue to inspire other Americans. There were a lot of women who paved the way for me. And now it鈥檚 her turn to pave the way for the next generation.
It鈥檚 pretty impressive that the top two female skiers of all time are Americans in a sport historically dominated by Europeans. We鈥檙e 20 wins ahead (21 for Shiffrin with Tuesday's victory) of the next woman (Annemarie Moser-Pr枚ll of Austria with 62 wins), which is a substantial margin. So it鈥檚 not even really close. It just speaks for our country as a whole and what we鈥檙e capable of doing.
Ski racing might not be as popular as it used to be. Snowboarding and other freestyle sports have gained popularity. So Mikaela breaking the record now is really great for the sport. I hope that it generates a lot of kids getting into the sport. Hopefully, she鈥檒l inspire the next American and hopefully Americans will stand 1-2-3 on the all-time list.
We鈥檝e definitely had a very different journey to 82. She鈥檚 the absolute perfect technical skier and has also won in the speed disciplines. I was the downhiller who also had wins in the technical races. I unfortunately had many, many injuries, and my road was quite a bit longer. But she鈥檚 at an incredible pace to not just reach 82 but go well, well beyond that.
Catching Ingemar Stenmark鈥檚 men鈥檚 mark of 86 wins was always the ultimate goal for me, but with the injuries I sustained it just wasn鈥檛 possible. For her, the sky鈥檚 the limit. I don鈥檛 think that Stenmark is necessarily the benchmark. She鈥檚 going to set the new standard and we鈥檒l just have to wait and see how high she鈥檚 able to go.
I knew from the very beginning that she would be the one to break all the records. But to be able to do it at such a young age is really impressive.
And I don鈥檛 think Mikaela should vary too much from her current approach. Not racing more speed events has done her well because she鈥檚 been able to stay injury free. Her plans are working pretty well. So I would probably just stick to what she鈥檚 been doing.
I remember when I first met Mikaela when we were training in Hinterreit (Austria) and she was starting out. I came up to her and I said, 鈥淲elcome to the team.鈥 And I know that it can be a little intimidating at first because she was so young. But I said, 鈥淚鈥檓 always here if you ever need anything.鈥 She was with her mom and she seemed really happy and excited to be with the team. I remember it perfectly.
We don鈥檛 get in touch that often, but I reached out to her when her dad passed away and she reached out to me when my mom recently passed away, which I really appreciated. I wrote her for New Year鈥檚 and congratulated her on Semmering (Shiffrin won three straight races in the Austrian resort last month) and I told her, 鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to watching you break all the records.鈥
I鈥檒l be watching from afar, though. This is her moment to savor, and I'll be cheering from the sidelines, like all ski racing fans.
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