Mikaela Shiffrin Returns To The Podium Top Spot In France
It's been just shy of a year since Mikaela Shiffrin, the American alpine phenom has stood at the top of a World Cup podium. To be more precise, it had been 323 days since her last World Cup victory, not to mention being the first podium in GS since December of 2019.
It would seem that the kid is back, taking a win over this morning, December 14, in Courchevel, France.
Ending with more emotion than the young superstar could almost handle, or so it appeared, the race began this morning after being postponed on Sunday. The track was just not up to par.
However, coming out to fitting conditions and a sunshine-filled day, Shiffrin was able to take the lead right away in the first run, though only by 0.07 of a second. The second run, though, put an exclamation point on her victory as she crossed the line .82 seconds ahead of second place.
The second-place spot was taken by last year's overall winner, Federica Brignone of Italy, who was having a good day herself until a mishap during the second run. She was able to recover and push hard to take second.
Third place was taken by a home field skier, Tessa Worley. The French skier was able to move into third place after the second run finishing 1.09 seconds by Shiffrin.
This win for Shiffrin moves her up another spot on the all-time wins list. She now has 67 World Cup alpine victories, tied for third with Austrian alpine legend, Marcel Hirscher. She now sits only behind another American legend, Lindsey Vonn who has 82 total wins, and the great Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden who holds the top spot with 86 wins.
The young American seems to be getting back on track, even surprising herself with this win. She said, "“I didn’t really know if I could come back to this level. It’s a lot of energy to focus like that and to put the toughness and strength in your skiing,” said Mikaela. “I’ve done it—I used to do it all the time—but I’m at a different place and didn’t know if I could do it again.”
Thumbnail Credit: Mikaela Shiffrin Fanclub/FB
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