Ingemar Stenmark's 86 World Cup victories carved out in the 1970s and 1980s had withstood fashions, technological developments, broadcast without fading the strength of records that have entered the collective memory, such as Pelé's 1281 goals, the 100 points scored by Wilt Chamberlain in an NBA game or Rod Laver's Calendar Grand Slam.
The American Mikaela Shiffrin, victorious this Friday in the giant at Are, added an 86th victory to her fabulous winter collection to join the sublime Swedish skier in the ski gold book.
In recent years, Stenmark's record, traced with fluid lines by an elastic skier wearing his inseparable beanie, was waved to accompany the dizzying prowess of American Lindsey Vonn, finally blocked at 82 successes (including 43 descents and 28 Super G ) and overtaken by the virtuosity of her compatriot with a technical profile comparable to that of the legendary Stenmark, before expanding her palette (52 World Cup slalom victories, accompanied by 20 in giant, 5 in Super G, 3 in downhill, 5 in City Event and parallel slaloms and 1 in combined).
Mikaela Shiffrin-Ingemar Stenmark, the fabulous parallel slalom
In a game of similarities and differences, Perrine Pelen, world champion in slalom in 1985, triple Olympic medalist, general manager of the Courchevel and Méribel World Championships, underlines: "Unlike Mikaela, Ingemar was very silent,
very shy, withdrawn.
And it was limited to two disciplines, slalom and giant when Mikaela added downhill, super G and combined.
The image that I keep of Ingemar Stenmark is his elegance in giant slalom, an event that he crushed with his talent
(15 consecutive victories in the World Cup between 1978 and 1980)
.
I remember a World Cup where he won by almost 3 and a half seconds.
He was an admired character, we were all fans.
Ingemar Stenmark was above the lot, it has almost become a myth.
»
A discreet legend who, at 66, follows the performances of Mikaela Shiffrin from Stockholm and applauds, as he confided to the Associated Press: “
She is much better than I was.
You cannot compare.
She has everything.
Physical strength, technique, a good head.
I think it's this set that makes it so good.
I'm also impressed that she can win in slalom, super-G and downhill.
I could never have been so good in all disciplines.
» Before sliding: «
The only thing I would have liked to have were the parabolic skis
(developed at the end of the 1990s which facilitate turns)
.
I think skiing today is easier, but winning is harder because of the higher plateau.
A tiny mistake can make victory less attainable.
»
I think living in the past makes no sense.
Resting on old laurels is nothing but resting.
Ingemar Stenmark
Ingemar Stenmark, an ice master in the firmament of world sport, like another Swede, Björn Borg.
Imperturbable.
At the top for more than fifteen years (from Madonna di Campiglio, her first World Cup success in 1974 to the last, in Aspen in 1989) enlightened by her 86 World Cup victories (46 giants, 40 slaloms).
A choice collection completed by two Olympic titles, two world champion crowns... A model of efficiency, impervious to the pressure of the event.
Proud of his roots, his first playground, in Tärnaby, where the main street has been named “
Slalomvagen
” (Slalom Street) in his honour.
Tärnaby who then saw the birth of Anja Paerson (42 World Cup victories, 7 times world champion, 1 time gold medalist at the Olympic Games).
Read alsoSacred as a giant, Shiffrin completes its collection
Read alsoSki: Mikaela Shiffrin separates from Mike Day, her historic coach in the middle of the Courchevel and Méribel Worlds
Stenmark's motto was: "
Vinna eller försvinna
".
“
Win or die
”.
He won.
Often.
A lot.
Before, once his ostentatious career was put away, to fade away.
A few years ago, he told Ski Racing: “
I've never been one to reminisce about my past memories and successes.
In fact, I don't think about it at all and I've already forgotten a lot.
I think living in the past makes no sense.
Resting on old laurels is nothing but resting.
All of these things took place in the 1970s and 1980s, in the last century.
Every four years, at the time of the Olympic Games, a journalist usually remembers me and my exploits.
Questions from the press then tend to set off a chain reaction of thoughts and memories, and when they come to the surface, I often wonder how far down I buried them in my subconscious for them to come back up. so rarely.
»
His name represents more than his stats.
He's a skiing legend (…) People will remember his name forever.
Mikaela Shiffrin
Born in Vail (Colorado), launched at the age of 2 on the slopes by skier parents, the American attended the Burke Mountain Academy to follow in the footsteps of her older brother Taylor.
In March 2011, she made her World Cup debut two days before she celebrated her 16th birthday and immediately became the youngest US slalom champion.
The sequel, fruit of trajectory magically marrying the most diabolical routes, will light a garland of lanterns since December 20, 2012, the date of its first success in the World Cup.
A slalom, in Are, Sweden.
If Mikaela Shiffrin wanted to stop everything after the death of her father following a fall in 2020, she, in particular supported by her mother, found the strength to revive herself.
Misty eyes.
Ready to try to pick up the thread of a crazy story.
Mike Day, her trainer until February, had pointed out to AFP the ordeal and the torments she had gone through: “
She had trouble with simple things, like memorizing the routes.
Sometimes he found himself in the middle of a slalom run without remembering what happened next.
We reworked all of that.
To find the heights.
"
To have such a course, there is of course the technique, the physical and the mental.
Her technique, I find it amazing, the mix between the fluidity of her trajectories and the power she develops.
She has a vision of the trajectory in all disciplines, whether in slalom or downhill.
But his career could not be his without a mind and a thirst for incredible victories.
When, like her, you have won everything, you wonder what drives her so much.
And, a little nod to her success, the couple she forms with Alexander Kilde (the Norwegian, silver medalist in the downhill and Super G at the Worlds, in Courchevel), they bring each other l 'other.
They are so cute
,” smiles Perrine Pelen.
The American hardly focused on records
Among the skiers who have won in all disciplines (such as the Swedes Anja Päerson and Pernilla Wiberg, the Austrian Petra Kronberger, the Slovenian Tina Maze, the Croatian Janica Kostelic, and her compatriot Lindsey Vonn), rewarded with a 5th victory in the general classification of the World Cup (3 for Stenmark), Mikaela Shiffrin can now attack the Austrians Annemarie Moser-Pröll, crowned six times in the 1970s, and Marcel Hirscher (8, in the 2010s ).
Even if the American (27) looks with suspicion at the records and statistics that flood the world of sport and "
dehumanize the sport and what each athlete tries to accomplish
" and slips: "
I never dreamed of breaking records for World Cup victory, points or world medals.
»
Mikaela, it's a real pleasure.
She brings so much to skiing.
She's such an inspiring champion.
Perrine Pelen
However, she could continue to illuminate the White Circus with her cinematic smile and her crazy races.
Perrine Pelen is enthusiastic: “
Mikaela, it's a real pleasure.
She brings so much to skiing.
She is such an inspiring champion, in terms of her career as an athlete, her trajectory which is just exceptional.
It is a monument.
She will pass the wall of a hundred victories soon, she excels in so many disciplines.
And I find that over the years, with the drama she went through, she feeds on the collective.
To follow her a lot on social networks, at first we felt her withdrawn, there we see that she feeds on others, rejoices in the successes of her compatriots, testifies to it, it's magnificent.
She goes beyond the scope of her sport, it
Carried by a touch of rare snow, illuminated by a cinematic smile.
True to the inscriptions that adorn his helmet "
ABFTTB
" for "
Always Be Faster Than The Boys
", remembering a message of encouragement from former American skier Heidi Voelker and the rule of gold enacted by his father Jeff "
Be nice, Think first, Have fun
" (Be respectful, think first, have fun)...
Top 10 skiers with the most World Cup victories
Ingemar Stenmark (Sue), Mikaela Shiffrin 86
Lindsey Vonn (EU) 82
Marcel Hirscher (Aut) 67
Annemarie Moser-Pröll (Aut) 62
Vreni Schneider (Sui) 55
Herman Maier (Aut) 54
Alberto Tomba (Ita) to 50
Marc Girardelli (Lux), Renate Götschl (Aut) 46
Anja Pärson (Sue) 42
Pirmin Zurbriggen (Sui) 40;…
Stenmark vs. Shiffrin
JO
Stenmark: 2 titles (plus 1 podium);
Shiffrin 2 titles (plus a podium)
Stenmark World Championships
5 titles (plus 2 podiums);
Shiffrin 7 titles (plus 7 podiums)
World Cups
Big Crystal Globes: Stenmark 3;
Shiffrin 5
Small globes: Stenmark 16;
Shiffrin 10
