Mikaela Shiffrin has spent more than a decade making history look routine. Yet after watching 19-year-old Croatian sensation Leona Popović storm to second place in Saturday’s slalom – just 0.14 seconds behind her – the 29-year-old American sounded anything but threatened.
“I’m excited,” Shiffrin said, smiling wide in the finish area. “I’m excited for all the amazing slalom skiing that’s happening right now and what’s possible for the future. So it’s only amazing.”
The numbers back up her enthusiasm. In the past three World Cup slaloms, three different teenagers or twenty-somethings have finished on the podium alongside Shiffrin: Popović (19), Switzerland’s Malorie Blanc (20), and Austria’s Emma Aicher (21). A new wave is rising, and the greatest of all time is welcoming it with open arms.
Saturday’s race in Killington marked Shiffrin’s 100th career World Cup podium in slalom alone and her 158th podium overall – both all-time records. She now needs just two more victories to reach 105 career wins and remains on pace to eclipse Lindsey Vonn’s women’s record of 82 victories in a single discipline (downhill) later this season.
But the bigger story may be unfolding behind her. Popović, who won junior world gold last season, attacked the foggy, rutted second run with a fearlessness that drew audible gasps from the Vermont crowd. When the Croatian crossed the line in provisional second, Shiffrin was the first to applaud.
“It’s fun to see someone ski that way,” Shiffrin said. “Leona is so dynamic, so aggressive. That’s what pushes all of us to keep getting better.”
The sentiment is genuine. Shiffrin has long insisted she thrives on competition, not comfort, and the current depth in women’s technical skiing is the deepest it has been in years. Five different women under 23 have reached the podium in slalom or giant slalom this season already.
For Shiffrin, the surge is validation of everything she and her rivals have poured into the sport.
“When I was coming up, Petra [Vlhová], Wendy [Holdener], and Michelle [Gisin] were pushing me every single weekend,” she said. “Now these young athletes get to experience that same intensity. It only makes the racing better – and that’s what fans want to see.”
Third-place finisher Anna Swenn Larsson of Sweden agreed.
“Mikaela could easily just protect her lead and ski safe,” Swenn Larsson said. “Instead she keeps attacking, and that forces the rest of us to do the same. The young ones are learning from the best.”
As the sun broke through the clouds over Killington’s Superstar trail, Shiffrin stood atop the podium for the 61st time in slalom – another record. Below her, Popović beamed with the wide-eyed grin of someone who knows the torch is getting closer, not farther away.
And the woman holding it couldn’t be happier about it.
“It’s only amazing,” Shiffrin repeated, almost to herself.
For once, the queen of ski racing isn’t looking back at the records she’s broken.
She’s looking forward to the ones still to come – for everyone.
