CNN
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American snowboarding star Mikaela Shiffrin is having fairly the 2023 – and it might get even higher earlier than the tip of January.
Earlier this week, the two-time Olympic gold medalist secured her 83rd World Cup win to break compatriot Lindsey Vonn’s record for the most wins in women’s skiing after ending first within the large slalom at Kronplatz, Italy.
She had topped the standings after the primary run, recording a time of 58.72 earlier than capping off a record-breaking day with a second-run time of 1:01.89.
Now, Shiffrin sits solely three behind the general record – in each males’s and girls’s snowboarding – of 86 wins held by Swedish snowboarding legend Ingemar Stenmark.
“I feel like I don’t push myself if my rivals aren’t pushing me, and my whole career, I’ve always had at least one main rival. That’s always in my mind. What are they doing? What are they working on?” Shiffrin advised CNN’s Amanda Davies.
“Even if I’m training alone, I’m always thinking, ‘Can I ski this faster?’ And if I can, then I better because somebody else probably is.”
After she broke Vonn’s record on Tuesday, Shiffrin stated her mom’s response was: “Holy crap, that was really good skiing!”
“She’s been one of my coaches for my entire World Cup career,” added the 27-year-old Shiffrin.
“I mean, she taught me how to ski when I was three, and she’s still teaching me how to ski now. So it’s been a pretty incredible journey to take with her.”
According to Shiffrin, her mother additionally helped the four-time total World Cup champion be taught the knack of remaining calm in competitors.
She added: “Of course, the nerves set in … whenever you get nervous, your legs form of seize up and get all jittery.
“And it’s really easy at any second to lose all of it with one easy mistake that simply comes since you’re a bit of bit nervous and perhaps simply an excessive amount of adrenaline.
“And she’s at all times reminding me when the snowboarding is good, I can simply give attention to doing that, then it’s going to be a good day.
“Whether or not it’s a win, I’ll be happy with it. And the last two days, it ended up in a win as well. So it’s pretty amazing.”
Skiing, amongst different issues, has additionally helped Shfiffrin deal with the death of her father, Jeff. He died instantly from an accident in February 2020 whereas at dwelling in Colorado.
“Just the last few years to where I am now, there’s times when I feel like I haven’t made any progress or healed at all,” she defined.
“And then there’s occasions once I really feel like, some sense of hope that perhaps, perhaps I nonetheless have some really great issues in life to look ahead to.
“And proper now, after all, successful races and having form of a optimistic momentum going and snowboarding, that’s at all times useful to really feel like, ‘Okay, there’s stuff to look ahead to in life.’
“And whether it’s in ski racing or not, it’s still things to look forward to,” stated Shiffrin, including that with the ability to spend time along with her boyfriend – fellow Olympic skier Aleksander Aamodt Kilde – in addition to her mom, and her brother and his spouse, makes her grateful.
Mikaela Shiffrin displays on the significance of supporting different girls
For now, Shiffrin is making an attempt to not give attention to what number of victories she can rack up.
“My big goal for this season is winning the overall Mikaela Shiffrin: ‘Holy crap, that was really good skiing!’ Mom tells US skier after she breaks landmark record | CNN. That’s what I set my sights on and, if I don’t win another race this season, I still have the ability to do that. So it’s not so much a number of victories as it is trying to remain consistent for the remainder of the season.”
If Shiffrin does safe a fifth total crown this season she would transfer second on the all-time winner’s checklist. Austrian Annemarie Moser-Pröll tops that checklist with six titles.
“And that’s still my big goal,” stated Shiffrin. “I have quite a large lead right now, but I’m not taking it for granted. So that’s kind of where I have my sights set, which is helpful for me to not think so much about the numbers.”
Shiffrin, who notched up her 84th World Cup win on Wednesday, might match Stenmark’s record of 86 wins with a pair of victories when the American races on Saturday and Sunday on the Czech resort of Spindleruv Mlyn.