It has been just over a year since Mikaela Shiffrin won a Super G race, 20 Jan 2019 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, and in winning the Super G in Bansko, this was another first for the American - she won two speed racers on the same weekend. Shiffrin has won six races this season, three slalom races and one each in Giant Slalom, Super G and Downhill so it is no surprise the American is so far ahead in the race for the Overall Globe, 370 points and with the win she also takes the lead in the Super G standings from Corinne Suter. Marta Bassino and Lara Gut-Behrami joined the American on the podium.
After missing out on a first World Cup Downhill win the previous day, Marta Bassino did her best from bib 6 to challenge for the win. The Bansko slope is very technically minded so it was no surprise that the Giant Slalom racers rather than the speed racers were at the forefront of the results.
"It was a perfect weekend for me," said Mikaela, who won the first downhill on Friday and was fourth in the downhill on Saturday. "It was super fun, but again—it was a really big challenge." Mikaela walked away from the weekend with a massive 250 more points to extend her lead in the overall.
Shiffrin put down a risky, aggressive run down the dark and bumpy Bansko track, but it was worth it, as she came out .29 seconds ahead of Marta. The triumph also means she’s won a race in every discipline besides the alpine combined this season.
Mikaela, who has been lauded as more of a technical skier, has been excelling in speed events over the last few years and her confidence continues to grow. “I felt really good on my skis—I felt like I could do what I wanted to do,” she said. “But I had to be really aggressive. It wasn’t always perfectly clean, but it was the fastest way I could ski this hill and this course. I’m super excited.”
The win brings Mikaela’s total to 66 wins—just one shy of Marcel Hirscher’s record of 67 wins—and leaves Mikaela in the lead of the overall, slalom and super-G standings and second place in the giant slalom and downhill standings. But she isn’t counting her chickens yet, having struggled to find the top spot in the last couple of weeks. In fact, this was just Mikaela's second victory of the calendar year, and she wants to make sure the fans and the media know it's not easy...even though her skiing looks graceful and effortless. Winning one World Cup is tough. Winning 66 times is otherworldly.
“This season has been a really big challenge—every single race,” said Mikaela. “There are so many women that are skiing really fast, really strong. Every race is such a big fight and I haven’t been the one on top of this fight every time. Certainly, I’ve been feeling sometimes like the expectations that I have or that other people may have, I’m not quite living up to that. It’s hard not to feel like I’m failing sometimes, even though this is an incredible season.”
Full results
Quotes from Shiffrin courtesy of USSkiTeam