Following Mikaela Shiffrin’s 82nd World Cup Victory over the weekend that brought her level with Lindsey Vonn as the best female skier ever, Vonn responded with a statement saying she is happy for Mikaela and expects her to go on and not only surpass her own record but Ingemar Stenmark’s all-time record of 86 victories and beyond.
Lindsey’s full message is below:
Iโm really happy for Mikaela.
Records are meant to be broken and itโs a sign of progress. And if anyone is to break my record, Iโm really happy that itโs an American.
Sheโs 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 itโs her turn to pave the way for the next generation.
Itโs pretty impressive that the top two female skiers of all time are Americans in a sport historically dominated by Europeans. Weโre 20 wins ahead of the next woman (Annemarie Moser-Prรถll of Austria with 62 wins), which is a substantial margin. So itโs not even really close. It just speaks for our country as a whole and what weโre 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, sheโll inspire the next American and hopefully Americans will stand 1-2-3 on the all-time list.
Weโve definitely had a very different journey to 82. Sheโs 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 sheโs at an incredible pace to not just reach 82 but go well, well beyond that.
Catching Ingemar Stenmarkโs menโs mark of 86 wins was always the ultimate goal for me, but with the injuries I sustained it just wasnโt possible. For her, the skyโs the limit. I donโt think that Stenmark is necessarily the benchmark. Sheโs going to set the new standard and weโll just have to wait and see how high sheโs 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 donโt think Mikaela should vary too much from her current approach. Not racing more speed events has done her well because sheโs been able to stay injury free. Her plans are working pretty well. So I would probably just stick to what sheโs 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, โWelcome to the team.โ And I know that it can be a little intimidating at first because she was so young. But I said, โIโm always here if you ever need anything.โ She was with her mom and she seemed really happy and excited to be with the team. I remember it perfectly.
We donโt 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 Yearโs and congratulated her on Semmering (Shiffrin won three straight races in the Austrian resort last month) and I told her, โIโm looking forward to watching you break all the records.โ
Iโll be watching from afar, though. This is her moment to savor, and Iโll be cheering from the sidelines, like all ski racing fans.