Mikaela Shiffrin Triumphs with 101st Victory at World Cup Finals

KETCHUM, Idaho — American Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin secured her 101st World Cup victory on Thursday during the final race of the season at Sun Valley Resort. Prior to her second run, Shiffrin, who had a commanding lead following her first run, faced a moment of doubt about whether to play it safe. Yet the cheers of the home crowd ignited her competitive spirit. “And then I heard everybody cheering… and I was like, ‘All right. F— it. Let’s go,’” she recalled.

Shiffrin’s determination paid off as she expertly navigated the slushy course, finishing with the third-best time of the second run at 1:45.92, comfortably ahead of her closest competitor, Germany’s Lena Duerr, by 1.13 seconds. Slovakia’s Andreja Slokar rounded out the podium, finishing just 0.01 seconds behind Duerr.

This victory capped off a “roller coaster” season for Shiffrin, who began her season atop the slalom standings but faced significant challenges, including a late-November injury that left her with a puncture wound in her abdomen. This injury sidelined her for two months and cost her valuable points in the race for the season title.

During her absence, Croatian skier Zrinka Ljutić claimed victory in two of the four races Shiffrin missed and went on to win the slalom crystal globe for the season. Although Shiffrin won four slalom races this year, she could not overcome the points lost due to her hiatus, finishing fourth in the slalom standings for the season.

“I will maybe get drunk for the first time in my life,” Ljutić jokingly responded to her victory. While Ljutić’s celebration is well-deserved, Shiffrin remains a dominant figure in slalom, having won eight of her last 10 races in the discipline and totaling 64 career World Cup slalom wins.

Looking toward the future, Shiffrin holds a solid position as she approaches the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. “Ending the season with this level in slalom gives me a lot of energy going into the preparation time and our next training camps,” she said. “It gives me energy to do the work. Feels like there’s a lot of work to do, but this gives me the inspiration to do that.”

Shiffrin reflected on her journey this season, stating, “One-hundred (World Cup wins) was this reset moment, and 101 is like a restart almost. There’s plenty of future left in my career, hopefully.” After completing the medal ceremony, Shiffrin took time to sign autographs for fans, including a group of young admirers dressed in Dalmatian costumes, embodying the spirit of her victory.

With the next Olympics approaching in under a year, Shiffrin elaborated on the motivation behind intense training, stating, “You get a taste of why we train so hard. That makes it a little bit easier to dive into the next months with a good attitude.”