Mikaela Shiffrin raced across the finish line, glanced up at the scoreboard, and then dropped to the snow in celebration. Nearly three months after a severe fall sidelined her and delayed her pursuit of history, this moment was filled with joy.

The celebrated American Alpine skiing champion clinched her 100th World Cup victory on Sunday, triumphing in a slalom in Sestriere, Italy. This remarkable achievement came just weeks after her return from an injury that kept her away from competition for 60 days, momentarily stalling her impressive journey towards setting new records.

Shiffrin led after her initial run, finishing with a combined time of 1:50.33, which was 0.61 seconds faster than Croatia’s Zrinka Ljutić. Fellow American Paula Moltzan secured third place, finishing just 0.64 seconds behind. This marks the fifth World Cup podium for Moltzan, who recently earned a giant slalom bronze medal at the world championships.

“It’s incredibly special to share this moment with Paula,” Shiffrin expressed following the race. “I could hear the crowd cheering as she took her run, and I thought, ‘Let’s treat this like a practice day and just keep pushing.’ … It made achieving this feel possible.”

Mikaela Shiffrin and Paula Moltzan celebrate their podium finishes at the World Cup slalom race in Sestriere, Italy. (Photo: Marco Bertorello / AFP via Getty Images)

No other Alpine skier has reached the milestone of 100 World Cup victories. Shiffrin became the all-time leader in the sport in March 2023, surpassing Ingemar Stenmark’s previous record of 86 wins. She is now tied with Stenmark for the most World Cup podium finishes in Alpine skiing history, with a total of 155.

Previously, Shiffrin was on the cusp of this achievement on November 30. With 99 wins to her name, she led a giant slalom race in Killington, Vermont, and seemed destined to hit the milestone on home turf. Unfortunately, a significant crash during her second run ended her race and resulted in a puncture wound to her abdomen.

The recovery process took two months, and Shiffrin is still working through the challenges. During her return to action in Sestriere, she faced difficulties in two giant slalom races, finishing 25th on Friday and failing to qualify for the second run on Saturday. Adjusting back to the heightened pace of the discipline has proven tough, and she had to withdraw from the giant slalom at the world championships earlier this month due to “mental hurdles” stemming from her prior crash.

However, Shiffrin swiftly regained her slalom prowess.

Upon her return to the World Cup circuit in January, she finished 10th in slalom in Courchevel, France, which served as her sole opportunity to prepare before the world championships.

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At the world championships, she teamed up with American teammate Breezy Johnson in the combined event, where she delivered the day’s third-fastest slalom run to secure gold. In last weekend’s individual slalom, Shiffrin narrowly missed the opportunity to capture a record-breaking 16th world championship medal by just 0.05 seconds.

On Sunday, she demonstrated control from the outset, achieving the fastest time of the day at 53.79 during her first run. This positioned her as the final skier for the second run, where she clocked the fourth-best time, maintaining a strong pace throughout her descent.

“A lot of elements had to align perfectly for this success,” she acknowledged. “Ultimately, I did something right too.”

This victory reinstates Shiffrin to a winning streak in World Cup slalom events, echoing her triumphs in the season’s opening races in Levi, Finland, and Gurgl, Austria, prior to her accident in Killington. Despite missing three races due to her injury, she is currently sitting sixth in the overall slalom standings, with two more events before the World Cup finals next month.