ZAGREB, Croatia—Mikaela Shiffrin felt “really excited” Wednesday after winning the first women’s World Cup race of 2023.
And it wasn’t because she had just moved within one victory of Lindsey Vonn’s record.
“I skied better than I probably ever have,” Shiffrin said.
The defending overall champion dealt best with difficult course conditions to dominate a floodlit slalom and raise her career tally to 81 World Cup wins. She could match the best mark Thursday at another slalom on the same course.
American standout Vonn set the women’s record of 82 before retiring in 2019. The overall best mark is 86, from Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark….