(Reuters) – American Mikaela Shiffrin was heading for a record-extending 85th women’s Alpine skiing World Cup win on Saturday after leading the first leg of a slalom in the Czech resort of Spindleruv Mlyn.
Victory would leave the 27-year-old one win away from equalling the Swedish men’s slalom great Ingemar Stenmark’s all-time record of 86 set dating back to the 1980s.
Shiffrin set a time of 48.19 seconds in the first run, 0.29 faster than Germany’s Lena Duerr and 0.46 quicker than Slovak rival and 2022 Olympic slalom champion Petra Vlhova.
The American last Tuesday broke the women’s record of 82 wins she shared with compatriot Lindsey Vonn in a giant slalom in the Italian resort of Kronplatz, following that up with an 84th win on the same slope on Wednesday.
Shiffrin made her World Cup debut in a giant slalom in Spindleruv Mlyn in 2011 as a 15-year-old.
The four times overall World Cup champion has won four of the seven slaloms so far this season and 10 World Cup races, making it her best campaign since 2018-19 when she won a record 17 times.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, Editing by Hugh Lawson)
