The American, who turned 24 on Wednesday, clinched the super-G Crystal Globe at the World Cup finals in Soldeu, Andorra to cement her growing status as one of the sport's greats.
She finished tied fourth with 2019 World Cup downhill champion Nicole Schmidhofer in Andorra, 0.44 seconds behind winner Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany.
Shiffrin is also hot favorite to clinch the giant slalom crystal globe Sunday in Andorra, with a 97-point lead over nearest rival Petra Vlhova of Slovakia.
Traditionally a technical specialist, she would become the first skier -- male or female -- to win the World Cup title in overall, slalom, giant slalom and the faster super-G discipline in the same season.
"This is a cool day," she told Eurosport in the finish area in Soldeu.
Shiffrin had never won a World Cup super-G before this season, but three victories coupled with some races canceled for bad weather handed her a shot at the crown in Soldeu.
"I dreamed about someday maybe being able to win a globe in super-G but I wasn't really expecting it this season," she added.
"The way I've been skiing super-G all season, I didn't know if it would be enough to win [today], I knew I would have to be aggressive and it worked out just enough.
"I have to thank everyone, all the speed coaches came to help me have this possibility. The way everyone came together to make this work was amazing and we're all so proud."
Shiffrin recently set a new record -- for men or women -- of 15 wins in a World Cup season to beat the mark she shared with Swiss great Vreni Schneider.
Her phenomenal performances this season have taken her to 58 World Cup wins overall -- fifth on the all-time list -- three straight World Cup overall titles, six slalom crowns in seven years and four consecutive slalom world titles.
Comparisons have been made with greats in other sports, with some suggesting she is the most dominant athlete in the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment