Mikaela Shiffrin Sets American Record With Sixth World Championship Gold Medal

Mikaela Shiffrin of United States celebrates following her victory the FIS World Ski Championships Women's Alpine Combined on Feb. 15, 2021 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.

It’s hard to believe there are still U.S. skiing records Mikaela Shiffrin doesn’t have, but she took another one down Monday at the alpine skiing world championships with her win in alpine combined.
That gold medal is the sixth one at the world championships for Shiffrin, setting an American record. Shiffrin also has four slalom gold medals and one in super-G. She already appeared on the medal stand once during these world championships in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, winning the bronze medal in super-G. 
But Monday was all about the combined, which Shiffrin had never before competed in at the world championships. Following the super-G, Shiffrin was third. She used the slalom, her strongest event, to race past Petra Vlhova of Slovakia to take the win by .86 seconds. Switzerland’s Michelle Gisin was third.
Shiffrin’s combined win was a first for a U.S. woman at the world championships since Tamara McKinney in 1989. Shiffrin also won the silver medal in combined at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018. With her two Olympic gold medals, Shiffrin now has eight international gold medals. She is a wise bet to add another one on Feb. 20 as she goes after her fifth consecutive slalom world championship.
On the men’s side, Bryce Bennett was the highest U.S. finisher in 16th.