KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia (AP) — The emotions came pouring out of Mikaela Shiffrin when she matched Lindsey Vonn’s women’s World Cup skiing record with her 82nd win Sunday.
First there was a scream of delight following a serious case of nerves that had been building inside her throughout the day. Then came tears during the playing of the American anthem when her thoughts turned to her father, Jeff, who died three years ago.
“My dad used to be there and taking pictures. Most races these days I’ll think about him and I’m able to kind of refocus,” Shiffrin said. “But when I’m singing the national anthem (it’s different). It was just before I ever won my first World Cup, he said, ‘You better memorize the words of the national anthem, because if you ever win, you better sing it.’ And so I always think about him when I’m up there.”
There were also an emotional embrace between Shiffrin and her mother, Eileen, who has coached the skier since childhood and been with her daughter every step of the way since her first World Cup win slightly more than a decade ago.
Shiffrin led from start to finish to win a giant slalom by a large margin and can now break Vonn’s mark in a night slalom scheduled for Flachau, Austria, on Tuesday.
“I was so nervous this run. I have a rash on my face I was so nervous,” Shiffrin said. “I don’t know why, maybe a little bit was because of 82. I just really wanted to ski well, and I did.”
Where other skiers struggled on a…
