Mikaela Shiffrin gets 78th World Cup win, moves closer to Lindsey Vonn record

By OlympicTalkDec 27, 2022, 7:56 AM EST

Mikaela Shiffrin earned her 78th World Cup win, moving four victories shy of Lindsey Vonn‘s female career record, to open a busy stretch of races.

Shiffrin won a giant slalom in Semmering, Austria, by 13 hundredths of a second over Slovakian Petra Vlhova combining times from two runs. She built a commanding lead of 72 hundredths in the opening run.

It was her first GS win since Dec. 21, 2021, ending her longest victory drought in the discipline in more than six years (eight World Cup races since her last GS victory, with one podium in the last seven).

Vonn, who won 82 times, and Swede Ingemar Stenmark (86) are the only Alpine skiers with more World Cup victories than the 27-year-old Shiffrin.

LAYDEN: With career records in view, Shiffrin knows nothing is promised

Vonn has repeated in interviews this year that she believes Shiffrin will break her record and last week was quoted by a German newspaper saying that she believes Shiffrin is already the best female Alpine skier in history.

Semmering holds another GS on Wednesday and a slalom on Thursday — both live on Peacock — as part of a busy stretch of eight World Cup slaloms or giant slaloms over 15 days through Jan. 10.

“The start of a weekend with three races is always a bit nerve-racking,” Shiffrin said. “You hope that you’re in the right shape and you can bring the right intensity from the start.”

In addition to her 2018 Olympic GS gold, Shiffrin has 15 World Cup GS victories, fourth in women’s history behind Swiss Vreni Schneider (20), Austrian Annemarie Moser-Pröll (16) and Frenchwoman Tessa Worley (16).

Shiffrin has at least one win in all four primary disciplines in 2022 — downhill, super-G, giant slalom and slalom — completing that set in one year for the first time in her career. She has four victories this season and won five of the last seven World Cup races held in Semmering dating to 2016.

ALPINE SKIING: Results | Broadcast Schedule

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U.S. women’s basketball team wins 3×3 world title; men take silver

By OlympicTalkJun 4, 2023, 2:03 PM EDT

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U.S. basketball teams took women’s gold and men’s silver at the FIBA 3×3 World Cup, the most prestigious tournament outside of the Olympics.

The U.S. women’s team of current NCAA standouts Cameron Brink (Stanford) and Hailey Van Lith (LSU transfer from Louisville), plus former WNBA players Cierra Burdick and Linnae Harper went 7-1 in this week’s tournament in Vienna, capped with a 16-12 win over France in Sunday’s final.

The U.S. women took gold in the event’s Olympic debut in Tokyo with WNBA standouts Stefanie Dolson, Allisha Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young.

Also Sunday, a U.S. men’s team headlined by 2011 NCAA Player of the Year Jimmer Fredette lost 21-19 to Serbia in their final. Serbia has won six of the eight world titles in men’s 3×3, plus Olympic bronze in Tokyo.

While the World Cup does not offer direct 2024 Olympic qualification, it will factor significantly into world rankings that in November will determine the first three nations to earn spots in the Olympic men’s and women’s tournaments.

If the U.S. qualifies for Paris, a committee will choose the roster(s). Active NBA players are not expected to take part.

The U.S. men did not qualify for the Tokyo Olympics despite being reigning world champions.

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Novak Djokovic breaks record he shared with Rafael Nadal at French Open

Associated PressJun 4, 2023, 1:53 PM EDT

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Novak Djokovic broke a tie with rival Rafael Nadal by reaching the French Open quarterfinals for the record 17th time, never truly in trouble during a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Juan Pablo Varillas on Sunday.

Djokovic is closing on bettering Nadal in a more prestigious category: Grand Slam singles championships. Both currently sit at 22. For Djokovic, that total includes two at Roland Garros, in 2016 and 2021, and he can become the first man to own at least three trophies from each major tournament.

Nadal is a 14-time champion in Paris but is missing this time because of a hip injury; he had arthroscopic surgery Friday night.

Against the 94th-ranked Varillas, who had never won a Slam match until this event and then took three in a row in five sets, Djokovic was, not surprisingly, at his dominant best at Court Philippe Chatrier on a warm, sunny day.

The 36-year-old from Serbia finished with more than twice as many winners, 35-15, and fewer unforced errors. He went 15 for 17 on trips to the net. He put in 80% of his first serves. He converted 6 of 12 break points while dropping his serve only once.

All in all, a no-drama showing in under two hours from Djokovic, who hasn’t ceded a set yet through four matches. He’s had his less-than-amiable back-and-forths with some spectators over the past week in Paris, but when this one ended, Djokovic gestured as though to hug everyone as he heard some chants of his two-syllable nickname, “No-le!”

In his 55th career major quarterfinal — Roger Federer, who retired with 58, is the only man to reach more — and 14th in a row at Roland Garros, the No. 3-seeded Djokovic will face No. 11 Karen Khachanov on Tuesday.

Khachanov, who is 1-8 against Djokovic, made it this far at a Slam for the fifth time by defeating Lorenzo Sonego 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7), 6-1.

Also Sunday, No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz beat No. 17 Lorenzo Musetti by the same scoreline as Djokovic’s win over Varillas — 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. He will next play No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas or Sebastian Ofner.

Three unseeded women moved into quarterfinals: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 2021 runner-up at Roland Garros, Karolina Muchova and Elina Svitolina.

Pavlyuchenkova, who missed last year’s tournament as part of a lengthy absence with a knee injury, got past a third consecutive seeded opponent, No. 28 Elise Mertens, by a 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3 score.

Muchova was a 6-4, 6-4 winner against Elina Avanesyan, who lost in qualifying but got into the main draw when another player withdrew. Muchova plays Pavlyuchenkova next.

Svitolina, a Ukrainian mom once ranked No. 3 in the world, took out No. 9 seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia 6-4, 7-6 (5).

The other women’s match scheduled for later: No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka vs. 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens.

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

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