Sestriere Resort in Italy hosted its World Cup slalom event over the weekend, and it would come to feature a historic moment in alpine ski racing.
Following her traumatic injury three months ago and the PTSD after, Mikaela Shiffrin achieved her 100th World Cup win — the most of any ski racer ever.
Shiffrin skied with drive and ambition, pushing through the course as she always has to reach the well-deserved milestone.
The moment was made even more special as Shiffron shared the podium with her friend and teammate, Paula Moltzan, who came down in third place.
This mark in Shiffrin’s career has solidified her title as the greatest of all time.
The historic achievement provides a great opportunity to look back at a few of her other achievements since her start as a young racer.
Shiffrin was born in Vail, Colorado in 1995 to parents and avid skiers Eileen and Jeff. She began skiing at age 8, eventually joining Burke Mountain Academy in Vermont.
She excelled there, earning a spot on the Nor-Am circuit, a key stepping stone in aspiring skiers’ careers.
Shiffrin got her first World Cup podium in 2011 at just 16 years old, winning her first World Cup the following year.
In 2014 she became the youngest woman to win a World Championship race and became the youngest athlete in history to win an Olympic slalom gold medal at Sochi that same year, showing early promise for a record-breaking career
In 2015, she landed her first giant slalom victory, her first alpine-combined victory came in 2017, her first downhill victory in 2018 and her first super-g victory in 2019, becoming the first International Ski and Snowboard Federation alpine skier to win across all six disciplines.
She is still the sole title-holder today.
Shfiffrin soon became the winningest slalom skier of all time in Levi, Finland in 2019 with her 41st slalom win, surpassing Ingemar Stenmark.
That same year, she won her fourth-consecutive slalom title, making her the first athlete to win four World Championship titles in a row in a single discipline.
In February of 2020, Shiffrin experienced a great loss when her dad passed away unexpectedly. She took a long period off the sport, questioning whether she wanted to ski again.
Her brother, Taylor, and her mother encouraged her to not give up, setting her up for a return later that year.
She won her first World Cup race back in December. After crossing the finish line and seeing the leaderboard, she dropped to her knees — the result was so much more than just a race win.
In 2021, she added nine more World Championship medals and became the most decorated American athlete in World Ski Championship history and then became the youngest athlete to win 80 World Cups.
The 2022 Beijing Olympics presented a setback on a huge stage as Shiffrin fell just seven gates before the finish in the giant slalom and then fell early in the slalom — a devastating result for the gnarly, flawless skier.
Despite the setback, Shiffrin continued to fight as she always does, setting her sights on redemption in her next World Cup races and the 2026 Olympic Games.
By the following spring, she surpassed Ingemar Stenmark’s record 86 World Cup wins.
Most recently, Shiffrin’s win at the World Championship combined event in early February represented her 15th World Champs medal, tying the most ever won, set in the 1930s by German skier Christl Cranz.
She continues to make waves through her career.
Whether setting a new record or once again proving her incredible skiing technique and skills, Shiffrin has now won 100 World Cup races and recorded a record-tying 155 World Cup podiums, all before the age of 30.
Shiffrin is undoubtedly the greatest of all time, reaching numerous new heights with setbacks behind her and plenty more of her career out in front of her.
