Mikaela Shiffrin moves within one win of tying Lindsey Vonn record

Mikaela Shiffrin is just one away from tying Lindsey Vonn’s record for World Cup wins after she claimed victory in the first World Cup race of 2023.

With her first-place finish in Wednesday’s slalom in Zagreb, Croatia, the 27-year-old American skier notched her fifth straight win and the 81st of her career.

“I skied better than I probably ever have,” she said.

Fellow American Vonn set the women’s record with 82 World Cup wins before her retirement in 2019. Shiffrin also is chasing the overall record of 86 wins, set by Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark before his retirement in 1989. No other alpine skier has recorded even 70 wins.

81!!!!! @mikaelashiffrin just won the Snow Queen Trophy AND scored her 81ST @fisalpine World Cup win in Zagreb!! WOW!!! 🎉🥳🍾 #stifelusalpineteam pic.twitter.com/Zqe4VDMKvY

— U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team (@usskiteam) January 4, 2023

Shiffrin’s streak includes wins in three different events: two each in giant slalom and slalom and one in super-G. Just two women have won more races in a row, per the Guardian: Switzerland’s Vreni Schneider, who won eight in 1988-89, and Germany’s Katja Seizinger, who won six in 1997.

While another slalom race scheduled for Thursday in Zagreb was canceled due to weather conditions, she could continue her run and grab Vonn’s record in two giant slalom races this Saturday and Sunday in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.

Saturday’s first run is set to begin at 3:30 a.m. ET, and the second run is set for 6:30 a.m. ET. Sunday’s runs will start at the same times. All the runs will be streamed on skiandsnowboard.live.

As Shiffrin bears down on the record, Vonn is cheering her effort.

“[Mikaela] is the best skier that has ever lived in my eyes,” Vonn told a German newspaper. “She will break my record of World Cup wins very quickly and will become the greatest skier in history.”