Mikaela Shiffrin Breaks Modern Record for Most Individual World Championship Medals

Mikaela Shiffrin made history again Thursday, establishing herself as the most-decorated skier of the modern era at the 2023 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships.

Per NBC Olympics, Shiffrin won her 13th career world championship medal, breaking a tie with Norway's Kjetil André Aamodt for the most individual medals by a skier since World War II:

Shiffrin did it in style by winning her first-ever world championship gold medal in the giant slalom:

According to NBC OlympicTalk, Shiffrin also tied Toni Sailer, Marielle Goitschel and Anja Pärson for the most individual world championship gold medals with seven.

Regarding her record-breaking achievement, Shiffrin said: "That's unbelievable. I was so nervous, just can't believe it."

The 27-year-old Shiffrin was already established as one of the all-time greats entering the 2023 world championships in the French Alps, but the Vail, Colorado, native cemented her status Thursday.

Shiffrin had already won silver in the Super-G at this year's world championships to tie the record for most total medals, and she crossed a huge achievement off her list by finally winning the giant slalom on Thursday.

Perhaps most impressively, Shiffrin accomplished the feat just one day after officially parting ways with longtime coach Mike Day.

Per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN), Shiffrin said she "decided to move forward with new leadership," and U.S. Alpine director Patrick Riml said Day left the world championships and went home when Shiffrin informed him she wanted "to do something different going forward."

Even before Thursday's win, 2023 was already a historic year for Shiffrin, as she surpassed fellow American Lindsey Vonn for the most World Cup wins by a female skier last month.

Shiffrin now has 85 career World Cup wins, and she is one win away from tying Ingemar Stenmark for the most World Cup wins by any skier.

This year has represented a remarkable bounce back for Shiffrin following her struggles at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. She was expected to add to a career Olympic medal haul that included two golds and one silver, but she shockingly failed to medal in any of the six events she competed in—and failed to finish three of her runs.

Shiffrin has put that in the rearview and gotten back to business, winning 11 World Cup races this season and finishing on the podium 14 times overall, in addition to her two medals at the world championships.

She will have one more chance to add to her total medal record and potentially break the gold-medal record at the world championships Saturday when she competes in the slalom—a discipline in which she has won gold at the world championships four times.