When a 15-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin dipped her toes into her first ever race on the World Cup circuit at Spindleruv Mlyn, one of the finest ski resorts in the Czech Republic, it was quite a bruising experience. 

Despite being a young sensation of prodigious talent, she failed to qualify for a second run of the giant slalom after finishing outside the top 30.  

Even the most practiced optimist would not have predicted that she would become the greatest Alpine skier of all time. Twelve years on, however, Shiffrin is the undisputed real deal. 

The Colorado native, who clinched two Olympic gold and seven world championship titles with astounding consistency, has attained skiing immortality after she won her 87th World Cup race on Saturday to break the all-time record set by Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark. 

"Pretty hard to comprehend," beamed an emotional Shiffrin after taking first in the giant slalom in one minute 41.77 seconds. "My brother and sister-in-law are here. I didn't know they were coming so that makes it so special." 

"The best feeling is to ski on the second run because you have a lead and you have to be smart" she added. "I just wanted to be fast too and ski the second run like its own race. I did it exactly how I wanted and that's amazing. 

"To the whole team and all the people who have helped me this whole season and whole career, all these people reaching out now after all these years, it's pretty incredible. I just want to say thank you for that."

The record-breaking triumph caps off a stunning turnaround for Shiffrin, who failed to finish in three of the six events she competed in at the 2022 Winter Olympics and ended her stay in Beijing without picking up a single medal.  

Following the extremely disappointing two weeks, Shiffrin has bounced back by amassing 13 wins across all disciplines so far this season and securing the overall, slalom and giant slalom World Cup Crystal Globes.  

According to ESPN's stats, Saturday's result marked Shiffrin's sixth slalom win of the season and her record-extending 53rd career win in the discipline. Shiffrin also has a women's record-equaling 20 giant slalom wins as well as five in super-G, five in parallel, three in downhill and one in combined.

Shiffrin, who will turn 28 on Monday, is expected to compete in three more races this season and has already set her sights on smashing more records. 

"It's hard to describe and not over yet, which is even more ridiculous," she told reporters. "I shouldn't feel pressure, but somehow I feel something in my heartbeat. That's the anticipation that we want to feel in ski racing. I have it. It's stronger than ever." 

For the indefatigable American, the sky's the limit. 

Most career World Cup wins 

- Mikaela Shiffrin 87 
- Ingemar Stenmark 86 
- Lindsey Vonn 82 
- Marcel Hirscher 67 
- Annemarie Moser-Proll 62 
- Vreni Schneider 55 
- Hermann Maier 54 
- Alberto Tomba 50