It seems almost every time Mikaela Shiffrin steps out onto the slopes, she makes more skiing history. And on Sunday, the American skier broke yet another record with her 156th podium finish as she finished third in the slalom in Åre, Sweden.
With that third-place finish, Shiffrin now has the most World Cup podiums of all time, surpassing the record set by Swedish skier Ingemar Stenmark, who competed in the 1970s and 80s.
Shiffrin, who recently became the first downhill skier to reach 100 World Cup wins, now holds so many records that she admitted it was difficult to keep track of them all.
“There are so many discussions about different numbers,” she said afterwards, per the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS).
The 29-year-old had skied into a first-run lead on Sunday, but could only finish in 25th on the second run, meaning that she finished in third place overall while Austria’s Katharina Truppe won her first World Cup title.
“I feel pretty good about it,” Shiffrin added.
“In challenging conditions you have to be so perfect, and it can be really hard to ski loose and aggressive when you have no room for errors.”
Shiffrin was racing in just her fifth slalom race since suffering a puncture wound to her abdomen and severe muscle trauma when she crashed out during a race in November.
Both physical and mental scars have lingered for her since that crash and she withdrew from the giant slalom at the world championships due to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
“When we got over here (Europe) and I started to really get into the intensity with giant slalom, there’s this kind of mind-body disconnect,” she told CNN’s Coy Wire last month. “I’m telling myself to do certain technical moves and it’s just not happening.
“My body’s screaming at me, it’s like a fight or flight: ‘No, don’t do it, it’s risky, it’s dangerous.’ … This whole journey has felt a little bit like whiplash, I think, for me and for the whole team.”