Mikaela Shiffrin chasing history — again — in FIS Alpine World Ski Championship slalom

Mikaela Shiffrin will chase history — again — on Saturday.

But even though she can surpass Christl Cranz as the most decorated world championship racer, Shiffrin’s mindset going into the final women’s event of the 2025 FIS Alpine World Ski Championship seems to be on anything but results.

“If I can consistently make some of my top-level turns, that would be really exciting and that will be huge for the rest of the season as well,” Shiffrin said in a recorded audio file sent to members of the media on Friday. “I don’t really have a lot of — I don’t know — a lot of expectation outside of that.”  

Shiffrin’s record going into Saturday’s slalom is unprecedented: she’s never finished off the podium in six world championship slalom starts. The 29-year-old won four in a row from 2013-2019 before claiming bronze in 2021 and silver in 2023. She’s also won the discipline season globe eight times, including last year. Her 2025 campaign opened with back-to-back slalom victories — her fourth and fifth-straight dating back to last season — but her historic quest for World Cup win No. 100 was interrupted when she crashed out of a GS in Killington on Nov. 30 and sustained a severe oblique injury.

The Edwards skier returned to the World Cup after a 60-day layoff, placing 10th in the Courchevel night slalom on Jan. 30. She told The Associated Press she’s dealt with post-traumatic stress disorder in her comeback and decided to pull out of the giant slalom at worlds. Instead, she paired up with Breezy Johnson to win gold — her 15th world championship medal — in the new team combined race. On Friday, Shiffrin said her participation in that event has helped her take a step forward mentally by providing traction for her race visualizations.

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“Memorizing all the pieces of it and then being able to put my best skiing out there consistently through the whole run — that’s definitely been a challenge and kind of part of the mental struggle I’m talking about,” she explained. “So getting a run down the hill already and sort of understanding how the hill feels — I think that’s going to help me bring out better turns.”

The rest of the women’s U.S. Ski Team has stepped up in Shiffrin’s absence. Breezy Johnson won downhill gold in a race in which 22-year-old Lauren Macuga placed fifth. Macuga claimed a bronze in the super-G and was fourth with Paula Moltzan in the team combined. Moltzan found redemption for missing the podium there by snagging a bronze in the giant slalom on Thursday.

“Watching the success they’ve had this week just sort of energizes me,” River Radamus said at a U.S. men’s tech team press conference Thursday. “We’ve got to carry our weight because they’ve been collecting medals all week.”

“I think in general this world championships has really shown us how anything can happen and it’s really important to go into the day open minded,” Shiffrin said.

Shiffrin has won both races she’s contested in Saalbach over her 15-year career. In addition to her team combined gold, she also won a slalom on the Ulli Maier course at the World Cup Finals last March. The eight-time world championship gold medalist said she’s put in some good training on the hill since Tuesday, but is thinking about process over product heading into Saturday.

“I have some of my very, most powerful turns in a course, but then connecting it for the whole course — it’s just not quite there,” she said. “That consistency is something I’m working on and that’s one of my big goals for tomorrow. … I’m looking forward to getting out there.”