"The fact that she's going to break 100 wins is crazy" - Lindsey Vonn lauds Mikaela Shiffrin for pushing boundaries in alpine skiing

Alpine skiing icon Lindsey Vonn recently opened up on her compatriot Mikaela Shiffrin breaking her world record for World Cup wins. Vonn acknowledged Shiffrin's accomplishments, adding that the sport greatly benefits from her achievements on the slopes.

In her 15-year alpine skiing career, Vonn established herself as one of the most decorated athletes the sport has ever seen. She amassed three Olympic medals, including one gold and two bronze, along with eight World Championship medals, comprising two golds, three silvers, and three bronze. Vonn also became the first American to win the women's downhill at the Olympics, a feat she accomplished at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

In January 2015, Vonn scripted history at the Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, by surpassing Austria's Annemarie Moser-Pröll's record of 62 World Cup wins and became the most successful skier in World Cup history. Vonn finished her career with a remarkable 82 World Cup wins, a world record that stood until January 2023 when Mikaela Shiffrin surpassed it in Kronplatz in Italy.

Besides Lindsey Vonn's record in the women's category, Shiffrin also shattered Ingemar Stenmark's all-time record of 86 wins. The 29-year-old now boasts an impressive 97 World Cup victories. Reflecting on Shiffrin's accomplishments, Vonn expressed that the former is making significant contributions to the sport.

"The fact that she didn’t just break the record but now she's going to break 100 is crazy. And I think if you look at it, it's the evolution of sports. When I broke the record, it was at 63, and I made it to 82. So that's about 20 wins," Vonn said (via Olympics.com).

"And then she broke the record, so 20 wins more than that is 100. So it kind of seems like it's going in a great direction. And, you know, we need that, ski racing needs that and she's been an amazing advocate for the sport," she added.

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When Mikaela Shiffrin reacted to Lindsey Vonn calling her "the greatest skier in history"

Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games (Source: Getty)

Lindsey Vonn once predicted that Mikaela Shiffrin at some point would break her world record and called her the best skier to ever exist in the history of the sport.

"She will break my record of World Cup wins very quickly and will become the greatest skier in history," Vonn said in 2022 (via NBC Connecticut).

In response, Shiffrin stated (via Access Hollywood):

"That definitely is very meaningful, we sent a couple of messages back and forth and she said congratulations a couple of times."

Lindsey Vonn announced her retirement from skiing following a bronze medal victory at the 2019 World Championships while Shiffrin is still going strong with 97 World Cup wins.