Shiffrin moves closer to all-time record with 77th World Cup win

American superstar Mikaela Shiffrin doesn't often fly under the radar, but that's exactly what she did in Sunday's super-G in the Swiss resort of St. Moritz en route to her 77th World Cup win.

With all the weekend attention on the extraordinary exploits of Italy's Sofia Goggia, Shiffrin quietly recorded top-six finishes in both downhill races before mastering a technical super-G course that suited her all-discipline skills.

On a course with a top section that resembled a giant slalom set, Shiffrin skied a risky, aggressive run that paid off as she finished 0.12 seconds ahead of Italy's Elena Curtoni, with France's Romane Miradoli claiming third.

"That was the best run I could possibly have," said Shiffrin, who credited skiing both downhill races on Friday and Saturday with helping her prepare for her first super-G of the season.

"I don't know if it felt perfect, but what I've learned over the years in super-G is that you can't really do it perfect," she said.

"You have to push so hard that maybe there's going to be one mistake or one spot where you almost don't make it, and that's how my run was."

With the victory, her fifth in super-G and first in the discipline since January 2020, Shiffrin moved to within five victories of former teammate Lindsey Vonn's women's record of 82 World Cup wins.

It was Shiffrin's third win of the season after her double victory in the Levi slaloms last month, and the podium was her fifth in super-G in St. Moritz alone, representing half of her 10 career World Cup podiums in the discipline.

Skiing two racers after Shiffrin, Curtoni was close to the leading time throughout her run but a mistake on the final jump might have cost her a second victory of the weekend, following her triumph in Friday's sprint downhill.

"I knew I needed a lot of tactics and technique but I also needed to push," Curtoni said in describing how she approached the course.

"I think I've tried in the best way even though the lines were not perfect on the steep and the last jump was sketchy."

Third-placed Miradoli, meanwhile, salvaged a podium out of an otherwise disappointing weekend that saw her record a DNF and 29th place in the two downhill races.

"It was so difficult after the last two days," she said. "I just turned the page, I tried to forget it and start again and full pleasure today."

Switzerland's two-time Olympic Alpine combined champion Michelle Gisin showed her all-around skills to finish fourth in the town where she was born, while Goggia came fifth despite again skiing with a heavily strapped glove on her broken left hand.

The technical top section didn't suit Goggia or fellow speed specialist Corrine Suter, the Swiss Olympic downhill champion who won the only other super-G held so far this season in Lake Louise. Suter made a mistake early in her run and finished 15th.

The women's Audi FIS World Cup tour will take a break over Christmas before resuming with two giant slaloms and one slalom race in the Austrian resort of Semmering from 27-29 December, as Shiffrin resumes her chase for the all-time record.