Mikaela Shiffrin

[Dirk Hofman]

Shiffrin just passed Lindsey Vonn for the most wins by any female skier, ever at 83. This morning (our time) she won the GS at Kronplatz to make it 84. The all time record of 86 is held by the Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark who raced in the 70's and 80's, a record which was at one point considered untouchable.

And she's 28! Stenmark and Vonn set their respective records in their early to mid 30's. Stenmark thinks she can win 100.

An incredible talent and an incredible athlete who has persevered against a lot of adversity and setbacks, though given the nature of injury in the sport that's hardly unique. Huge congrats to a great American athlete!

[dirkronk]

Thanks for posting this, Dirk. My wife and I rooted, gasped, sat with hearts in throat, and were ultimately disappointed for Shiffrin during the Beijing Olympics after being fans of her earlier triumphs. This gives us hope that she'll stay healthy (fingers crossed) and fulfill whatever her skiing destiny may be. We'll certainly keep cheering.

Dirk (the other one)

[KenL]

She lives just north of me, as does Lindsey Vonn. Last night's TV news out of Denver had a big story/interview with Mikaela, and she is an amazing athlete with a good head on her shoulders. The whole state of Colorado is very proud of her.

[Gitfiddlemann]

Big fan of Mikaela Shiffrin here. 84 wins in such a highly competitive, and injury hazardous sport, is truly special. Kudos to her!
I too had big hopes for her at the Beijing Olympics. A low point that I'm sure took her a while to get over. I just hope she makes it whole to the next ones in Italy. (Probably helps that she's a slalom specialist, as opposed to Vonn). Who knows how many wins she'll have by then, barring any major injury.
Go Mikaela!

[ozzman]

Thats great,I love all the ski events.got turned on to it watching Jean Claude Keeley back in the day. they are cookin down that hill.wipe outs look devastating at those speeds.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Dirk, thanks, you beat me to this. Such an amazing young woman. And let's remember that they lost almost an entire season due to the worst pandemic in 100 years. She's gonna shatter all records, for all-time. Praying she stays healthy.

I don't know if you folks know that she also lost her father about two years ago. He was her #1 confidant and booster. Of all things, he took and odd fall at home and I believe he hit his head. Geesh. So that and her injury really took the wind out of her sails for a couple years. Buy my, oh my, what a tremendous athlete.

I'm kinda glad she only does slalom and super G; the downhill is a frightening event, and I think her last crash ended Lindsay's career. It was gruesome.

I OP'd a thread a while back about another amazing female athlete -- Abby Steiner. If you haven't heard about her, you soon will. In the highly competitive world of woman's sprinting, she set all kinds of NCAA records and recently dominated the World Championships at Oregon. She just graduated from Kentucky, and Adidas signed her to a multi-million $$$ contract -- a rarity in women's track. Watch out, world.

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=661716

And speaking of Ms. Vonn, she came out of retirement recently to ski the -- at night! These people are nuts!

American queen of speed Lindsey Vonn fulfills a lifetime dream by becoming the first woman to ski the legendary Streif in Kitzbühel, the most notorious downhill course in the world – and the first to ever dare to do so at night.

[Dirk Hofman]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

I'm kinda glad she only does slalom and super G

She also does giant slalom and downhill, she’s just not as good at the speed events. That said, she has wins in all 4 event types—which is also hugely impressive. I believe she placed 4th this week in the downhill in Cortina d’Ampezzo, which is quite good for a mostly “technical” skier. But I agree, if she did more speed events she’d be in more danger of major injury.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by Dirk Hofman

She also does giant slalom and downhill, she’s just not as good at the speed events. That said, she has wins in all 4 event types—which is also hugely impressive. I believe she placed 4th this week in the downhill in Cortina d’Ampezzo, which is quite good for a mostly “technical” skier. But I agree, if she did more speed events she’d be in more danger of major injury.

Dirk, thanks for the correction. I was unaware she did downhill. That event scares the me to death. People DIE skiing downhill. Last week I watch the replay of Hans Klammer's famous downhill run. He looked like he came close to dying at least six different times in that one run. No thanks. You also won't find me catching waves at Waimea Bay or Jaws.

sm

[Gitfiddlemann]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

People DIE skiing downhill. Last week I watch the replay of Hans Klammer's famous downhill run. He looked like he came close to dying at least six different times in that one run.
sm

That he did. He literally put his life in jeopardy with that run, and he knew it. One of the greatest runs in the history of skiing, for sure. I remember watching those '76 Oylmpics too, on ABC sports, back when Roone Arledge was in charge. ABC's glory days.
I found an interesting video of that famous gold medal run by Klammer, side by side with the man he narrowly beat for it, Bernhard Russi. A race for the ages, and not exactly the easiest slope either in Innsbruck.

Sorry for the sidetrack from your thread on Mikaela, but I think she would approve. She's of the same vein.

[Dirk Hofman]

Originally Posted by AndreF

That he did. He literally put his life in jeopardy with that run, and he knew it. One of the greatest runs in the history of skiing, for sure. I remember watching those '76 Oylmpics too, on ABC sports, back when Roone Arledge was in charge. ABC's glory days.
I found an interesting video of that famous gold medal run by Klammer, side by side with the man he narrowly beat for it, Bernhard Russi. A race for the ages, and not exactly the easiest slope either in Innsbruck.

Sorry for the sidetrack from your thread on Mikaela, but I think she would approve. She's of the same vein.

All good! I remember watching that run with my parents on TV, I guess on tape delay, but they were both going nuts watching Klammer. Amazing how it really came to one turn at the end between he and Russi.

Shiffrin is in a relationship with Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, not a bad downhiller in his own right.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by AndreF

That he did. He literally put his life in jeopardy with that run, and he knew it. One of the greatest runs in the history of skiing, for sure. I remember watching those '76 Oylmpics too, on ABC sports, back when Roone Arledge was in charge. ABC's glory days.
I found an interesting video of that famous gold medal run by Klammer, side by side with the man he narrowly beat for it, Bernhard Russi. A race for the ages, and not exactly the easiest slope either in Innsbruck.

Sorry for the sidetrack from your thread on Mikaela, but I think she would approve. She's of the same vein.

Andre, I love the sidetrack, dude. I promise to watch this in the next 24, then comment back. That was such a hair-raising run. The only thing wrong with that Klammer vid is the poor degradation of the image on ancient video tape. With today's technology, I bet someone in their home studio could re-master and digitize that Klammer vid and vastly improve the quality.

And yes, I loved Jim McKay and all those early ABC Sports guys. They really paved the way for ESPN and FOX and all other great sports programming we have today.

Thanks, Andre,

See Ya,
Scott

[Charmed Life Picks]

She won twice in the last week, and is now only one victory shy of tying Stenmark, who said recently, "She could win a hundred." What a phenomenal person and athlete.

[Dirk Hofman]

Looks like she can tie on Sunday, possibly. Come on Mikaela!

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by AndreF

That he did. He literally put his life in jeopardy with that run, and he knew it. One of the greatest runs in the history of skiing, for sure. I remember watching those '76 Oylmpics too, on ABC sports, back when Roone Arledge was in charge. ABC's glory days.
I found an interesting video of that famous gold medal run by Klammer, side by side with the man he narrowly beat for it, Bernhard Russi. A race for the ages, and not exactly the easiest slope either in Innsbruck.

Sorry for the sidetrack from your thread on Mikaela, but I think she would approve. She's of the same vein.

Andre, I finally had a chance to watch this. It's terrific. Thanks for taking the time to find and post it.

I get a big grin every time I watch the Klammer run. The entire run he's about three milli-seconds from complete disaster. Talk about living on the edge!

Thanks,
Scott

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by Dirk Hofman

Looks like she can tie on Sunday, possibly. Come on Mikaela!

Agreed, Dirk. I can't wait. I'm just praying she breaks it before the end of this season. It would be agony to tie this year and have to wait another nine months to break it. But barring any serious injury, she's in there.

What an athlete,

sm