French veteran Tessa Worley, who finished fifth on Tuesday, has also watched Shiffrin’s career from the beginning and said it was great to simply be part of the same generation as the American star.
“It’s not a surprise, we all knew she would break this record — it was just a matter of when,” Worley said in French. “It’s impressive, it’s inspirational. It’s quite cool and it gives a good image to women’s skiing and Alpine skiing.”
While her rivals applaud Shiffrin from afar, her teammate Nina O’Brien, who finished 18th in Kronplatz, is relishing the opportunity to learn up-close from Shiffrin on a daily basis.
“I just feel so lucky to be her teammate in this era and watch her write history every day,” O’Brien said on Tuesday. “It’s a lot of fun and she’s been really supportive as well.”
The next record in Shiffrin’s sights is legendary Swede Ingemar Stenmark’s total of 86 World Cup wins for any Alpine skier, but that’s not where Shiffrin’s journey will end, according to Vonn.
“I don’t think that Stenmark is necessarily the benchmark,” Vonn wrote. “She’s going to set the new standard and we’ll just have to wait and see how high she’s able to go.”
