In Pictures: Mikaela Shiffrin introduces her eighth reindeer 'Rori' to the world following 98th World Cup victory

Mikaela Shiffrin introduced her eighth reindeer to the World Cup and has named it Rori. The American skier earned her 98th World Cup victory in Levi, Finland on November 16, her eighth at the venue.

Shiffrin lost her season opener earlier in Solden but put up a dominating performance in the traditional season-opening slalom in Levi. She earned a one-tenth-second lead from her first run and followed it up with an aggressive and controlled run in the second round to win by 0.79s.

The 29-year-old posted 1:47.20 to beat 2021 slalom world champion Katharina Liensberger, who won her first podium since securing one in Levi in 2023. It was Shiffrin's eighth in the Finnish Lapland and she was presented with the traditional prize, reindeer, following the win.

Shiffrin introduced the reindeer to the world in an Instagram post on November 17 and revealed that she had named her Rori, a short name for Aurora Borealis.

"Meet “Rori” short for “Aurora Borealis”…which I was so excited to see for the first time earlier this week," she wrote.

The 29-year-old expressed gratitude to her teammates and congratulated her fellow podium winners Liensberger and Lena Duerr, who placed third.

"What a day yesterday…congrats to @liensberger.katharina and @lenaduerr for some amazing skiing, and my teammate @paulamoltzan for a PB at Levi! This venue is always a special one for me, and the timing always makes me reflect about all the things I’m grateful for—my family, team, this sport, the fans, my sponsors, Santa, etc… and it was extra special to be able to have my brother and sister-in-law here this weekend. We were all thinking of @mati.lorenzi and skiing in her honor," she added.

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Mikaela Shiffrin's likely road to 100th World Cup victory

Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Finals - Mikaela Shiffrin in action during Women's Slalom (Source: Getty)

Mikaela Shiffrin is next scheduled to compete at the Gurgl slalom in Austria next Saturday. Being the slalom race and her biggest competitor Petra Vloha highly likely out of competition, the 29-year-old will be overwhelming for her 99th World Cup victory.

She will fight for the historic 100th win at Kellington, United States on November 30 in front of the home crowd irrespective of the result of her Gurgl race. The two-time Olympic champion will ski both slalom and Giant Slalom races and will be hoping to secure the iconic 100th victory in front of her home crowd.