American Gold Sports Alliance

Women's Sports

ESPY Awards Nominations Highlight Women’s Sports Superstars

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Claire Watkins | Just Women’s Sports

Women’s sports came up big in last week’s 2025 ESPY Awards nominations, as superstars like WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, USWNT attacker Mallory Swanson, US Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, and others vie for the annual honors.

The Las Vegas Aces forward earned spots on the shortlists for both Best WNBA Player as well as Best Athlete: Women’s Sports, where she’s up against Biles plus US track and field icons Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Gabby Thomas.

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark will also compete for Best WNBA Player alongside Wilson, Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier, and New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, with Clark also topping the Best Record-Breaking Performance shortlist.

Women’s soccer also stole the spotlight, with the USWNT earning a Best Team nod while forward Mallory Swanson nabbed Best Comeback. Fellow Triple Espresso star Trinity Rodman’s Olympic quarterfinal overtime goal also snagged a nomination for Best Play.

Dating back to 1993, the ESPYS recognize the most impactful sports stories of the year, including Best Player, Best Comeback, and Best Team.

This year’s women’s sports nominees feature several 2024 winners, including Clark (Best College Athlete, Best Record Breaking Performance), Biles (Best Comeback Athlete), and Wilson (Best Women’s Sports Athlete, Best WNBA Player).

Individual women and women’s teams across the sports world will be on hand when the awards hit the red carpet later this month, with the likes of US rugby star Ilona Maher, US gymnast Suni Lee, golfer Nelly Korda, US ski legend Lindsey Vonn, NCAA basketball standout JuJu Watkins, and tennis icons Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka among the 2025 nominees.

How to watch and vote for the 2025 ESPY Awards

The 2025 ESPY Awards will kick off on July 16th at 8 PM ET, airing on ABC.

Fan voting for the awards will close three hours before the start of the ceremony.

Georgia women’s track & field run away with first national title

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SEC Sports

EUGENE, Ore. — The Georgia women’s track and field team exploded for 73 points to win its first national outdoor title by 26 points as the NCAA Championships wrapped up on Saturday.

Senior Elena Kulichenko (high jump), junior Aaliyah Butler (400-meter dash) and Butler, Michelle Smith, Dejanea Oakley and Sydney Harris (4x400m relay) captured national crowns while Oakley collected silver in the 400m, Smith managed bronze in the 400m hurdles and freshman Skylynn Townsend posted a personal best to take sixth in the triple jump.  

Final Women’s Team Scores: Finishing behind Georgia (73 points) was USC (47), Texas A&M (43), Washington (31) and Illinois (29.5) in the top five.

This squad of 16 Bulldogs, including a relay alternate for both the 4x100m and 4x400m relays, represent seven different nations and featured six first timers at the meet and four true freshmen.  Georgia finished as the runner-up in back-to-back years in 2017-18 and its 2025 point total of 73 is a school record, topping the 62.2 in 2017.

While this is the first NCAA outdoor team title for the Georgia women, they did capture the 2018 indoor team championship.  The Bulldogs’ outdoor crown is the 52nd overall team national championship for UGA, including the men’s outdoor championship in Eugene in 2018, tying LSU and Arkansas for the second most team titles in the SEC.  This is the fourth national championship for UGA this academic year after women’s tennis won the indoor and outdoor crowns and equestrian captured the championship.

Director of Track & Field Caryl Smith Gilbert adds the 2025 championship to her 2018 and 2021 women’s titles while leading USC’s program.  Smith Gilbert was also on Tennessee’s staff when the indoor squad won the 2005 championship.  With Saturday’s championship, Smith Gilbert becomes the first collegiate female coach to win NCAA track and field championships at two separate schools.

“We worked really, really, really hard and we have a team that is starting to form into something that will be a great program,” Smith Gilbert said.  “It’s very important to me for us to have points all over the place.  Track and field is track and field so we made a point this year and for the future to build all parts of the program, not just the sprints.  I have the greatest coaching staff on the planet and a Director of Athletics in Josh Brooks and a president in Jere Morehead who support our program to no end.  I am so proud to bring home this championship to Athens.”

Smith Gilbert on UGA winning: ‘We’ve been working on this moment the whole season’

Meet Schedule: Other than the decathlon running Wednesday-Thursday and the heptathlon going Friday-Saturday, the meet was set up to be a men’s competition on Wednesday and Friday and a women’s competition on Thursday and Saturday.

Wednesday/Thursday/Friday Highlights: Georgia only had a pair of high jumpers compete on Friday and senior transfer Eddie Kurjak tied for eighth place and earned First Team All-America honors after coming from a NCAA Division II program.

During the women’s first day of action on Thursday, graduate transfer Stephanie Ratcliffe won her second career hammer throw title and became the first NCAA representative to accomplish the feat at two separate schools and in non-consecutive years.  Freshman Manuela Rotundo and senior Lianna Davidson finished second and fourth in the javelin to give Georgia its first pair of scorers in the event since two Bulldogs were in the top eight in 2005.  Finally, senior Kelsie Murrell-Ross steadily improved during her series to finish sixth in the shot put, becoming the first to earn scoring All-America honors in the event for UGA since 2000.

On Wednesday, senior transfer Moustafa Alsherif finished fourth in the javelin to give the Bulldog men a scorer in the event for the fourth straight year.  Also, freshman Jayden Keys complemented his Southeastern Conference long jump title with an eighth-place finish in the event to score for the men.

Full Results: To check out live results throughout the four-day season finale, please check: https://gado.gs/da0

The Lowdown: Kulichenko, a Ondintsovo, Russia, native, shared the national crown in 2024 but left no doubt as she claimed her first sole title in the high jump.  Coming in at 1.84 meters/6-0.50 on Saturday, Kulichenko went over five heights, including the winning mark of 1.96m/6-5, on her first try and topped Illinois’ Rose Yeboah for the championship.  This is UGA’s fourth national championship in the event.

Butler, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native, collected her first individual national championship in the 400m and the second in school history (Lynna Irby, 2018).  She came in as the national leader and left with a fresh school record and became the No. 5 all-time collegiate performer.  Only one member of the field, Butler’s teammate Dejanea Oakley, came within striking distance of her.

Oakley, who hails from Clarendon, Jamaica, sped to her own personal record of 49.65 to earn the silver medal as Georgia tallied 18 points in the event to take control of the meet.  Oakley’s time dropped Irby’s previous No. 2 time in the school record books to No. 3.

Butler later combined with Smith, Oakley and Harris to win Georgia’s first women’s 4x400m relay outdoors in history.  Topping the school record and taking over the No. 8 spot on the collegiate all-time performer’s list, the Bulldogs passed the baton around for a 3:23.62 to top Arkansas (3:24.25) for gold.  Butler scorched an anchor leg of 48.79 to move into the overall lead during the final 100 meters and put an exclamation mark on Georgia’s point total.

Smith, a Frederiksted, St. Croix, native, raced in the 400m hurdle final and drove through her lap and 10 hurdles in 55.20 for bronze medal honors.  Lining up with what would soon become the new collegiate record holder (Michigan’s Savannah Sutherland, 52.46), Smith added another six points to the Lady Bulldogs’ total and became the team’s first scoring All-American in the event since Gudrun Arnardottir finished third at the 1996 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Arriving on the Oregon campus seeded 11th nationally, Townsend, a native of Prosper, Texas, posted six fair attempts in the triple jump and topped out at a personal record to finish sixth at her first Nationals.  Townsend’s second try of 13.52m/44-4.50 situated her in sixth place with a comfortable cushion as she joined the great four-time NCAA outdoor triple jump champion Keturah Orji as a UGA First Team All-American.

How To Keep Up With The Dogs: Results and recaps from the NCAA Outdoor Championships will be found at georgiadogs.com.  News and updates from Georgia’s track and field and cross country teams are always located on X/Instagram at @UGATrack.

Balancing act: The tough decision facing dual-sport star

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By Gemma Bastiani | AFLW

ALIRA Fotu is quiet, calm, and in control.

At 17 years old, the West Australian is walking a tightrope between footy and basketball, playing both at a high level, and has a big decision on her hands come December. Focus solely on footy and the aim of getting drafted? Or still work to balance the two sports.

The balance has been done before, most notably by 2023 AFLW Best and Fairest winner Monique Conti, but it’s not an easy task.

Playing for South Fremantle in the WAFLW, Western Australia in the National Championships, and part of the Marsh AFLW Academy, Fotu has a bright future in footy. But at the moment, it’s her burgeoning basketball career with Perth Lynx that is front of mind.

A serious focus on footy began when Fotu was invited to be part of the Medleys, an elite program designed to encourage players from multicultural backgrounds to pursue Aussie rules.

Fotu’s father is Tongan, so she joined the program in 2022 as a 14-year-old and won the side’s best player award in its clash with Indigenous program the Woomeras.

“I’m still deciding between two sports,” Fotu admitted to AFL.com.au.

“But I think Medleys was a good reason why I’m here. I think because I hadn’t played many state games it was a good way to showcase my talent.”

Alira Fotu during a Marsh AFL National Academy training session at Whitten Oval on December 11, 2024. Picture: AFL Photos

That talent is clear. She is a dangerous forward who can hit the scoreboard, but also able to roll through the midfield and use her slick hands to set up teammates out of congestion.

The opportunity with the Medleys came via an unexpected email, and the lure of being coached by AFLW players like Akec Makur Chuot and Haneen Zreika was enough for Fotu to say yes.

But the family connection to basketball kept her involved in the two codes.

“I love everything about basketball. I’m really in control at basketball, I’m the point guard, so I like to be able to organise stuff like that. I’ve just played it for so long,” Fotu said.

“My mum and dad met playing basketball, my sister plays, my brother plays, it’s just my whole family. My family over in New Zealand play as well, it’s just like, that’s all I really know.

“I love that we’re related and that we all play the same sport.”https://www.instagram.com/p/DDUBg2Dz1tv/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=14&wp=940&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.afl.com.au&rp=%2Faflw%2Fnews%2F1310694%2Fbalancing-act-the-tough-decision-facing-dual-sport-star-alira-fotu#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A1494.7000000029802%2C%22ls%22%3A867.5999999940395%2C%22le%22%3A1256.2999999970198%7D

They also all share the same number, 42.

“Fotu,” she said in two clear syllables.

“It’s my last name.”

Currently the teenager is working her way back from a knee injury – a partial tear to her lateral collateral ligament – meaning she can’t play either of the sports she loves. But the rehabilitation process suits her personality.

“I’m just trying to focus on what I can control, because there’s not much I can do about it,” Fotu said.

“Just doing my rehab, being consistent with my days, trying to get better, because otherwise, what am I supposed to do? I quite enjoy the gym and stuff, and the gym I go to in Perth, it’s a good atmosphere.”

Alira Fotu celebrates kicking a goal during the Marsh AFL National Futures match between at GMHBA Stadium on August 31, 2024. Picture: AFL Photos

She has an introverted nature, one that can adapt to being part of a loud, bustling roster of AFLW players, or basketballers, but also thrives alone. That’s why time in rehab, largely removed from her teammates, isn’t the mental challenge it might be for others.

“I consider myself quite an introverted person. I would love to be by myself at all hours of the day, but that’s obviously not possible,” Fotu said with a chuckle.

“I don’t have a problem being around the girls, as long as I have a bit of alone time.”

And as a Fremantle fan, is the goal to don the purple chevron come December’s Telstra AFLW Draft?

“I mean, I’d love to be drafted anywhere,” Fotu said.

“But I would love to be drafted by Freo. That’d be good.”

Fubo debuts women’s sports hub, riding demand for content

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ByAlyssa Meyers | Marketing Brew

Fubo is getting in the zone.

Capitalizing on growing demand for women’s sports like basketball and volleyball, the streamer introduced a hub for women’s sports content to its home page earlier this month, where viewers can find programming including live games and documentaries. The first advertiser integration is set to roll out Saturday in time with the second weekend of the WNBA season, VP of Ad Sales Jennifer Monson shared exclusively with Marketing Brew.

“The advertiser interest and the amount of response that we’ve had from launching this women’s hub has been huge for us,” she said.

Fubo declined to name the inaugural sponsor ahead of the activation going live this weekend, but Monson said it’s a financial services brand running a campaign across the hub, spanning inventory like pause ads and interactive ads. Fubo also has another financial services brand signed on to advertise in the hub, both new clients for the streamer whose campaigns amount to “about seven figures in revenue,” she said.

Follow the fandom: It’s not just brands that are interested in Fubo’s women’s sports content; the idea for the hub, called the Women’s Sports Zone, came about as a result of viewership trends, Monson said. Audience demand “reached a fever pitch” last year, she said, when Caitlin Clark and the 2024 draft class joined the WNBA, helping spur record-breaking viewership last season.

It was around that time, Monson said, that advertisers started expressing growing interest in women’s sports content on Fubo, including brands from categories that hadn’t historically been spending much in the sports space.

“We saw our viewership numbers going way up, but then we also saw a big call from advertisers who wanted to really lean in and support women’s sports,” she said. “It was just a general demand from both sides of the market, where people were asking, ‘How can we align with women’s sports from an advertising [perspective], and how can we watch more women’s sports?’”

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From there, creating the Women’s Sports Zone “was just natural,” Monson said: 61% of Fubo subscribers use the platform to watch women’s sports, according to the company.

Brand wagon: The Fubo ad sales team has been pitching the hub during upfronts season, Monson told us. For brands that want to activate in the space, she said her team will help create custom activations that can include a “branded skin” that spans the entire page, pause ads, and interactive ads like trivia questions or other games.

Women’s Sports Zone advertisers can also retarget audiences in men’s sports on Fubo, too, Monson added. Ideally, she said, the campaigns will span beyond logo placements, a sentiment that’s shared by other leagues and brands in women’s sports.

“We wanted something that’s not going to be just a logo slap,” Monson said. “We really want brands to align with the culture, the energy, the momentum of women’s sports.”

Given the timing of the rollout with the start of the WNBA season, that league will be particularly prominent for now, but Monson said the Women’s Sports Zone is also set to include plenty of content around sports like volleyball, Olympic sports, and the NCAA down the line.

USA Rugby Sets Women’s Attendance Record in Kansas City

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The USA Rugby women’s 15s shattered the sport’s US attendance record on Friday, welcoming 10,518 fans to Kansas City’s CPKC Stadium for the Eagles’ matchup against Canada.

Though the world No. 9 ranked US fell short in their come-from-behind push, falling 26-14 to No. 2 Canada in the opening game of the 2025 Pacific Four Series, Friday’s crowd gave the players a massive off-field victory.

“To see the crowd be over 10,500 like that was absolutely fantastic in this women’s purposely built stadium, and to debut rugby here in that stadium as well,” said USA captain Kate Zackary after the game.

Even Canada’s athletes lauded the significance of the record-setting crowd, despite the overwhelmingly US cheers from the home fans.

“Being here in North America and having 10,000 people coming to watch women’s sports was so amazing,” remarked Canada’s Sarah-Maude Lachance.

USA rugby star Ilona Maher carries the ball during a game against Canada.
Stars like Ilona Maher are helping grow rugby in the US. (Nick Tre. Smith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Rugby’s rise spurs exponential growth

After the Eagles secured Olympic bronze in rugby sevens last summer, the sport gained significant momentum.

The national attention captured by 2024 Olympians like superstar Ilona Maher earned USA Rugby a multimillion-dollar investment, helped fuel a new domestic league, and minted fresh fans en route to Friday’s attendance record.

In the long-term, that growth could turn the US-hosted 2033 Rugby World Cup into a marquee national event.

For the rugby faithful, however, the biggest win is seeing those new to the sport become lifelong fans.

“Everyone I talked to after [Friday’s] game who didn’t know what rugby was, [I hope] has fallen in love with it,” said Zachary.

How to attend the next USA Rugby game

The Eagles will take aim at breaking Friday’s attendance record in Washington, DC, on July 19th, when they’ll face No. 16 Fiji in a send-off game before August’s 2025 Rugby World Cup in England.

Tickets to the Audi Field doubleheader, which also includes the US men’s side against England, are available online now.

Portland Team Owners Break Ground on First-Ever NWSL-WNBA Training Center

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RAJ Sports, owners of the NWSL’s Portland Thorns and Portland’s incoming 2026 WNBA expansion franchise, broke ground on their historic dual-sport training center on Wednesday, as the 12-acre $150 million facility begins to take shape.

The performance center will support both Portland squads, becoming the first-ever training complex to house a professional women’s soccer club and a pro women’s basketball team under singular ownership.

Led by Lisa Bhathal Merage as well as her brother, Alex Bhathal, RAJ Sports is the sports investment arm of the Bhathal family, who shifted into team ownership on the heels of their longtime family swimwear business.

Bhathal Merage, in particular, is taking charge in ensuring the new facility is pushing the needle for women’s sports.

“We don’t look at our investments as philanthropy at all,” said Bhathal Merage. “It’s about moving things forward.”

“I’ve been involved in hand selecting every finish, carpet, tile to make it through the female lens of how we interact, how we look at things, what we want to see,” she explained.

“I think this performance center will be changing the dynamic for women’s sports for generations to come,” added Bhathal Merage. “Our view is to collaborate, involve the community and really lift up everybody by that collaboration.”

The Bhathal family are also eager to reveal their incoming WNBA team’s name, telling reporters that they’ve “literally compiled every single comment from every single person into a massive spreadsheet and rank them in order of how popular they were.”

“We’re waiting for final league approval,” said Bhathal Merage. “Hopefully within the next two, maximum three months, we’ll be able to unveil everything.”

Sienna Betts is Morgan Wootten National Girls High School Basketball Player of the Year

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Mitch Stephens, Myckena Guerrero, SBLive Sports 

What a great day it was for Grandview (Aurora, Colo.) senior girls basketball standout Sienna Betts.

The 6-foot-4 post was named the Morgan Wootten National Girls High School Basketball Player of the Year on Sunday, two days before the McDonald’s All-American Games in Brooklyn (N.Y.).

Betts is the No. 2 ranked senior in the nation according to ESPN after she averaged 23.0 points, 16.5 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 3.4 blocks per game while shooting 60% from the floor. Her Grandview (Aurora) Wolves finished 25-3 and won a Colorado 6A state title.

While her accomplishments on the court are well known by those who have followed her prestigious basketball career, what really set her apart from other finalists were off-the-court actions. They included:

  • Every other week during the season, Sienna and her team works with a Special Olympics basketball team, creating an inclusive positive environment for athletes of all abilities.
  • She tutors students in math, offering academic support and assisting with executive functioning skills for those in need.

Additionally, she has volunteered at youth basketball camps, served meals with her team at the Ronald McDonald House and helped elderly individuals with tasks around their homes 

The same day Betts won the award, he future school UCLA earned its first entrance to the NCAA Final 4 with a 72-65 win over LSU in Spokane, Wash. Betts’ sister Lauren, a 6-7 junior, fought off foul trouble and finished with 17 points and seven rebounds.

Morgan Wootten, 88, is the chairman of the McDonald’s All-American Games Selection Committee. The award recognizes players who embody both on- and off-court accomplishments.

Among previous winners for the award, which has been presented since 2002, were Paige Bueckers (2020), Breanna Stewart (2012), Chiney Ogwumike (2010), Maya Moore (2007) and Candace Parker (2004).

Bookmark High School on SI for all of the latest high school sports news.

Star Athletes Serena Williams, Sabrina Ionescu Invest in Pro Women’s Sports Leagues

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JWS Staff

The WNBA and NWSL welcomed some new high-profile owners on Monday, as Serena Williams and Sabrina Ionescu announced investments in the country’s leading pro women’s sports leagues.

Tennis icon Williams is purchasing a stake in the Toronto Tempo. There, the 23-time Grand Slam winner will subsequently weigh in on the 2026 WNBA expansion team’s visual elements like jersey designs, merchandise deals, and more.

“Serena is a champion,” noted Tempo president Teresa Resch. “She’s set the bar for women in sport, business, and the world — and her commitment to using that success to create opportunities for other women is inspiring.”

Meanwhile, 2024 WNBA champion and Bay Area product Ionescu also padded her portfolio. Ionescu bought into 2024 NWSL addition Bay FC, where she’ll serve as an official commercial advisor.

“Sabrina is the ultimate innovator and creates new pathways for aspiring and current professional athletes,” said team CEO Brady Stewart. “Adding her passion and vision to what we are building at Bay FC will allow us to further disrupt the sports landscape.”

Athlete investors lead the way in growing women’s sports

Both current and retired athletes are increasingly buying into the business side of women’s sports. The list includes USWNT alums Julie Foudy, Mia Hamm, and Abby Wambach backing Angel City FC and WNBA legend Sue Bird buying into the Seattle Storm and Gotham FC.

Earlier this year, 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark threw her support behind Cincinnati’s recent NWSL expansion bid.

“This moment is not just about basketball,” said Williams. “It is about showcasing the true value and potential of female athletes — I have always said that women’s sports are an incredible investment opportunity.”

“I whole-heartedly understand how important investment really is and obviously you can talk about it and be about it, but you really have to want to be committed to it and invest to be able to see what you believe in come to light,” echoed Ionescu.

Ownership doesn’t only keep legends in the game. It also proves that women’s sports are a booming business.

“It hasn’t happened overnight for us. It’s been years and years for us of athletes kicking down the door, voice what it is that they want to see. It’s taken investment, and now expansion,” added Ionescu.

“To see it now in real-time — viewership, attendance, sponsorships — everything is at an all-time high.”

Mikaela Shiffrin earns 100th World Cup win, joins exclusive century club

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By: Nick Zaccardi | NBC Sports

Mikaela Shiffrin has earned a record-extending 100th career Alpine skiing World Cup win, coming back from major injury to join a short list of athletes across all winter sports with triple-digit victories.

Shiffrin won a slalom by 61 hundredths of a second over Croatian Zrinka Ljutic combining times from two runs in Sestriere, Italy, on Sunday.

Minnesotan Paula Moltzan took third. It’s the third time of Shiffrin’s record-tying 155 career Alpine World Cup podiums that she’s joined by another American.

Shiffrin crossed the finish line and took multiple glances in the direction of a scoreboard before dropping down and lying on the snow. Moltzan helped her up, and they hugged

“I didn’t know if it said fourth or first. One hundred times later, and I still can’t find the darn scoreboard,” Shiffrin told media in Sestriere. “My feeling is blank a little bit. It’s overwhelming. It’s too hard to find thoughts for it. But that’s also a very peaceful moment because normally I’m only thinking. So sometimes it’s nice to have a moment where I can’t think.”

After a podium ceremony, a 60-second highlight video was shown of Shiffrin’s celebrations and victory interview clips over her career.

An interviewer then said, “After all you’ve been through these last months, 100 World Cup victories.” Shiffrin, through tears, thanked her, thanked her teammates, thanked her competitors, her coaches and the fans.

Shiffrin returned to the top in her sixth race back since missing two months following a Nov. 30 race crash. She sustained a puncture wound that tore oblique muscles and came very close to piercing organs. Shiffrin had been bidding for win No. 100 in that Nov. 30 giant slalom, leading after the first run before crashing in the second run.

“I have wondered in the last weeks so many times whether it is the right thing to come back,” she said. “We didn’t take the easy way, that’s for sure, but in the end, in order to keep moving forward and to finish this recovery, I have to be in start gate, and I have to experience these emotions when they’re good and when they’re bad. That’s really important. Today was just an amazing day in the middle of some really tough months, but I’m very thankful for this day.”

Shiffrin returned to competition Jan. 30 and placed 10th and fifth in her first two slaloms back (plus won the World Championships team combined with Breezy Johnson with the third-fastest slalom run).

She skipped the giant slalom at the World Championships, citing mental obstacles specific to GS coming back from the Nov. 30 crash. She returned to GS racing in Sestriere on Friday and Saturday.

“I do not yet feel entirely myself…but I do feel enough of myself to be here…and for now, that is enough,” she posted before her first GS races back.

On Friday, she placed 25th. On Saturday, she was 33rd in the opening GS run, not qualifying for the 30-skier second run for the first time since 2012 (when she was 17 years old, two months before her first World Cup win). She then trained slalom.

Then on Sunday, she had the fastest opening slalom run by nine hundredths over Ljutic. She was fourth-fastest in the second run skiing on battered snow as the 30th and final starter.

“I’m not there (in GS),” she said. “I feel like the mountain ahead of me to climb is steep and long, and if I get there, when I get there, it will be very sweet. For now, I just have to take this day and be grateful for it because it’s a small moment in the middle of many tough moments that makes me feel that maybe I can be good again.”

Shiffrin is commemorating No. 100 by partnering with Share Winter Foundation to raise $100,000 for learn to ski and snowboard programs for youth who otherwise would not have access to the sports.

“I know that not everyone is blessed with the good fortune I have come across; in fact, very few are, and over the years, the lack of accessibility for a diverse group of people in winter sports has funneled us into a very not diverse community,” Shiffrin said in a press release. “I see this 100 victory conversation as an opportunity to bring more eyes and, ideally, more passion to the sport. It’s incredible, of course, but I’d like to turn the spotlight to something bigger than me.

“Helping Share Winter bring more kids to the mountain is really meaningful. It’s far bigger than me winning 100 races. This will make that 100th victory one of the most meaningful to me.”

Over the last 12 years, Shiffrin has dealt with a range of hardships, both physical and mental, and returned to the top of podiums each time.

“This is probably the last moment that I would expect to achieve this, actually” she told Swiss broadcaster SRF. “It seems like even returning from injury, and in the last years of my career, there’s always expectation that I’m going to be on the top step. And for me, when I look around at the other athletes, at my competitors, it sometimes seems impossible that I can win these races. They’re so strong.”

In March 2023, she broke Swede Ingemar Stenmark’s Alpine record of 86 World Cup wins. Now she has reached a 100-victory milestone that few athletes have achieved across all winter sports World Cups.

Norwegian cross-country skier Marit Bjørgen won 114 individual World Cup races before retiring in 2018 with a record 15 Winter Olympic medals.

Swiss skier Conny Kissling won 106 times in the 1980s and early 1990s, with most of the victories coming in an event combining moguls and aerials (which, separately, are Olympic disciplines) and acro or ballet (which is not an Olympic discipline).

Swiss Amelie Wagner-Reymond earned 164 World Cup victories from 2007-23 in telemark skiing, which is not an Olympic discipline.

Shiffrin reached 100 before her 30th birthday on March 13 by starting her tally early, dominating slalom for most of the last 12 years (63 World Cup slalom victories are 28 more than any other woman in history) and also winning the most giant slaloms in women’s World Cup history (22). She stayed relatively injury-free in a high-risk sport until two crashes in 2024.

The women’s Alpine skiing World Cup continues next weekend with two downhills and a super-G in Kvitfjell, Norway. Shiffrin is next expected to race the following weekend in Are, Sweden.

“Just to stand in the start gate and take the mentality (of) what I want to do is what I actually do, that’s not been totally connected (recently), but today it was,” Shiffrin said, “and that feels good for the soul.”

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