Mikaela Shiffrin completed an outstanding double as she won her second giant slalom in successive days in Semmering on Wednesday.
The 27-year-old American, who tops the overall standings, now has 79 World Cup wins to her name, just three shy of the the women’s record of 82 victories set by compatriot Lindsey Vonn.
She is also on track to pass the overall record of 86 World Cup victories set by the Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark.
Despite several errors, Shiffrin edged the Swiss skier Lara Gut-Behrami, who had topped the first run, by 0.10 seconds. Italian Marta Bassino finished third, 0.47sec behind the winner, to claim her sixth consecutive podium in giant slalom.
World champion Gut-Behrami was 0.22 seconds quicker than the American on the first run but made several mistakes on the second which ultimately cost her the victory.
Shiffrin’s fifth win of the season gives her a commanding 305-point lead in the overall standings over Sofia Goggia who did not compete in the giant slaloms.
With a slalom scheduled for Thursday, the American has the opportunity to repeat the hat-trick – two victories in giant, one in slalom – that she achieved in the Austrian resort in 2016.
