Mikaela Shiffrin has equalled the record for World Cup wins with an 86th victory in Friday’s giant slalom in Are, Sweden.
The 27-year-old American will have the chance to surpass Swede Ingemar Stenmark’s record on Saturday when she races in the slalom in the same resort.
Shiffrin had led after the first run and built on that to beat Italy’s Federica Brignone by 0.64 seconds.
“This is just a spectacular day,” Shiffrin told Eurosport.
“I just wanted to fight for it. It’s amazing, incredible.”
It was Shiffrin’s 12th World Cup win of the season and she also secured the season-long World Cup giant slalom title.
Shriffrin, who had already secured the overall World Cup title for a fifth time as well as the slalom crystal globe, has now won six out of nine giant slaloms this season, as well as World Championship gold.
Sweden’s Sara Hector came third, 0.92 seconds behind Shiffrin.
“It was harder with the visibility,” said Shiffrin, who stood on the podium holding a pair of skis with ’86 victories’ written on the bottom.
“For the first run I had luck with the light so the second run was much more dark and I just kept trying to push.”
She now has the opportunity to break the record Stenmark set with his victories in the 1970s and 1980s, and could do it two days before her 28th birthday on Monday.
Source – BBC Sport
