Mikaela Shiffrin Secures Record-Extending 98th World Cup Win

American skier Mikaela Shiffrin achieved her record-extending 98th World Cup victory in the initial slalom event of the ski season in Finland. As is customary for winners at Levi, she was awarded a reindeer. The two-time Olympic champion held a 0.60-second lead after the opening run in Levi. She maintained this advantage to defeat Austria’s Katharina Liensberger by 0.79 seconds in challenging, gloomy conditions. Germany’s Lena Duerr finished in third place, 0.83 seconds behind the winner. Shiffrin, 29, expressed her satisfaction, stating, “Amazing way to start the slalom season, I’m super happy.” She further described the race, saying, “[It was] a little bumpy. I was getting twisted sometimes but then kept fighting.” While acknowledging “it wasn’t the perfect tempo,” Shiffrin expressed contentment with her performance “in conditions that were not easy.” At the close of the previous season, she secured victories in both slalom events after recovering from a knee injury sustained in a downhill crash in January, ultimately claiming her eighth World Cup season title. Three weeks prior, Shiffrin had also led the season-opening giant slalom in Austria, but encountered difficulties in her second run, resulting in a fifth-place overall finish. Her next competition is scheduled for Saturday 23 November in Gurgl, Austria, for another slalom event, followed by three consecutive weekends of competition across the United States and Canada.