Shiffrin answered the challenge, keeping her advantage over the steep middle section and powering across the finish line to win the second run and beat Gut-Behrami by 0.45 seconds. Brignone was third, 1.43 back.

“It might take me a little bit to figure out what to say,” Shiffrin said in her first interview at the finish line, according to a post-race U.S. Ski and Snowboard report.

“I was a bit nervous for the second run, but mostly I hate waiting, and finally when it was time to go, then everything went quiet and I just pushed as hard as I could ever turn," she said.

Reigning Olympic and World Championship super giant slalom champion Gut-Behrami, 31, seeking her 37th World Cup win, was the first to approach Shiffrin in the finish area and offer congratulations.

“It’s unbelievable what’s she’s doing, she’s an amazing athlete,” 2016 World Cup overall winner Gut-Behrami was quoted as saying in the U.S. Ski and Snowboard report.

Shiffrin’s 83 World Cup wins include a record 51 in slalom, 18 in giant slalom, five in super giant slalom and three in downhill, plus six others in city events, parallel slalom and alpine combined. She is now two victories shy of the women’s giant slalom win record of 20 held by Vreni Schneider of Switzerland.

Now in her 13th season, Shiffrin won her first World Cup race at age 17 in Dec. 2012 and has taken only 238 starts to reach 83 wins. She will be 28 in March. Vonn won her first World Cup race at age 20 and her last at 33, starting 395 races overall before retiring in 2019 at the age of 34.

Shiffrin, a Burke Mountain Academy alum, has now won four of the seven giant slaloms this season and took over first place in the GS standings with 500 points, ahead of Marta Bassino of Italy, 451 points.

With four wins in slalom in addition to one victory in super giant slalom, Shiffrin also leads the 2022-23 slalom standings 605-470 over Wendy Holdener of Switzerland.

There are seven more technical races among the 14 World Cup races remaining in the season. Given her technical prowess, Shiffrin with her eight victories in slalom and giant slalom has a chance to exceed the all-time World Cup win total of 86 held by Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden.

Women compete in another giant slalom Wednesday at Kronplatz.

Extending her big lead in the World Cup overall standings with another 100-point win, Shiffrin improved to 1,417 points this season, 556 points ahead of second-place Gut-Behrami. Shiffrin won five times last season on her way to her fourth World Cup women’s overall title.

At Kronplatz, Shiffrin extended her prize money earnings to $589,705, way over the $437,575 she earned all last season on the way to 1,493 Cup points and the overall title. This year’s second-place woman in prize earnings is Sofia Goggia of Italy, with $252,123, and Gut-Behrami is third with $224,206.

In today’s U.S. Ski and Snowboard report, Lindsey Vonn tipped her hat to Shiffrin’s achievement and remembered the effect that Sun Valley’s Picabo Street had on her.

Vonn said, “Reaching this milestone is an incredible accomplishment, one that I hope Mikaela is able to savor.

“Picabo Street inspired me to become an Olympian and I remember vividly how much of an impact she made on me. Throughout my career I always tried to be the role model for kids that Picabo was for me, and now it is Mikaela’s turn to carry that torch.

“As Americans, we have been able to produce incredible athletes, and I am excited to see who Mikaela will inspire to continue to push the limits of our sport. Congratulations on raising the bar for all skiers to come.”

Shiffrin has set many benchmarks since, at 17, she won the Dec. 2012 slalom at Are, Sweden and became the second-youngest American to win an alpine World Cup. In 2019, she became the first ski racer in history to win in every discipline—downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom, alpine combined and parallel.

Shiffrin’s win rate is an incredible 35%, which means that when she starts a race, she will win more than one-third of all races. Her podium percentage is more than half at 55%.

She holds 12 World Cup crystal globes in three different disciplines, including four overall titles, as well as nine World Championships medals—including six golds—and three Olympic medals.

“Mikaela Shiffrin is now not only the best woman alpine skier of all time, but she is also a great person, teammate and role model for the sport of alpine skiing,” said Sophie Goldschmidt, CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard. “As an organization, we are so proud of her accomplishments and cannot wait to see how she further transforms the sport and the history books next.”