Mikaela Shiffrin did it by less than a second. Win number 86 is hers.

The Vail-based skier tied Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark’s World Cup wins record of 86 with her victory in a giant slalom race in Åre, Sweden Friday — the same ski hill where she won her first World Cup victory more than a decade ago on Dec. 20, 2012 at age 17.

With three days until Shiffrin turns 28, win number 86 — a record Shiffrin has been chasing for six weeks — was all but in the bag within the first 15 minutes of race one. Her closest rival, skier Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Rahmi, skied out on her first run.

Shiffrin skied quick on and off her edges right out of the gate, finishing run one in 55:16 and led by .58 seconds ahead of Canadian Valerie Grenier and .93 seconds ahead of Italian Frederica Brignone.

In a stacked field of competitors with the likes of Slovakian Petra Vlhova, Gut-Behrami, Norwegian Raginhild Mowinckel, and two Italians (Brignone and Marta Bassino), Shiffrin had a steep challenge.

Of those six top racers, five all have at least one first place podium finish in World Cup racing this season.

A quick “yeah, woo,” after crossing the finish line could be heard from Shiffrin. Her strong start helped her take a big lead going into run number two. She was smooth and fluid around all 43 gates as the sun began to part for run two.

The clouds made their way overhead as race two started. Racing last, Shiffrin was smooth and consistent after waiting nearly an hour to finish run two in 59.48 seconds.

Shiffrin won the giant slalom race in a time of 1:54:64, beating out Brignone who finished in 1:55:28, by .64 seconds, claiming Friday’s win and win number 12 in the season.

Hands over her head and mouth, Shiffrin looked up at the time board and knew she had the win. She kept calm, but flashed a huge smile.

“Oh my God,” she said softly as Brignone and Swedish skier Sara Hector ran over to congratulate her.

With her 86th win in 245 races entered, Shiffrin has kept her win percentage above 35% — 15 percentage points higher than fellow skier Lindsey Vonn.

Shiffrin also clinched the giant slalom title after Brignone pushed Vlhova out of the podium spot, securing the crystal globe as Shiffrin’s march in March into World Cup history continues.

“This is just spectacular,” Shiffrin said after being asked about her victory.

“I know the GS globe was locked in place before the race,” she also said. “If I was in the start and if I had to chose, I would chosen the GS globe.”

Fellow U.S. racer Paula Moltzan raced to a time of 1:57:13 and finished in 18th place in her first race back in World Cup after having hand surgery in Colorado in February.

Moltzan broke her left hand while skiing her gold medal-winning run during the mixed team parallel at the World Championships in France.

• Also of note, Shiffrin has recently been nominated by Laureus for Sportswoman of the Year in the Laureus World of Sports Awards 2023 — an award that “recognizes and celebrates the world’s greatest athletes, the inspirational power of sport and its ability to change lives,” according to Laureus Sports.

Although Stenmark was not at the race Friday, he said recently to the Associated Press of Shiffrin: “She will be the first to reach 100 victories.”

Defining irony, Shiffrin won number 86 on Stenmark’s home snow while Stenmark won number 86 on Shiffrin’s home snow in Aspen in February 1989.

“She has everything. She has good physical strength, she has a good technique, strong head. I think it’s the combination of everything makes her so good. And I’m also impressed that she can ski good both in slalom and in super-G and downhill also.”

Shiffrin has a chance to claim win 87 and a new record Saturday in a slalom race, her best performing discipline with 52 wins to her name, in Åre.