Mikaela Shiffrin wins 65th World Cup race to cement overall lead

She’s back in the fast lane. Mikaela Shiffrin skied to a 65th career World Cup win and first in downhill since 2017 with victory in Bansko, Bulgaria Friday.

The American star is now just two race wins behind Austrian great Marcel Hirscher, who retired last year, and fourth on the list of all-time World Cup winners.

She trails compatriot Lindsey Vonn, who also ended her glittering career last year, by 17 victories. Sweden’s slalom legend Ingemar Stenmark holds the record with 86.

Shiffrin, who will be 25 on March 13, is traditionally a slalom and giant slalom specialist but her second career downhill victory has cemented her lead at the top of the standings as she chases a fourth straight World Cup overall season title.

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Already this season Shiffrin had won three slaloms and a giant slalom race, but victory in Bansko was her first of 2020.

Vonn won four overall crowns between 2008 and 2012, while Austrian great Annemarie Moser-Proell holds the women’s record with six overall titles, awarded to the skier who has performed the best across all disciplines.

Hirscher holds the most overall titles with an unprecedented eight straight Crystal Globes.