Mikaela Shiffrin is one of the greatest skiers to ever grace the sport. Her three Olympic medals and 14 World Championship medals are absolutely a testament to this. She also has 99 victories to her name in the Ski World Cup, which is the most in history by anyone. Mikaela’s most recent victory came in Levi, as she won the race in 1 minute 40.22 seconds.

Levi has always been a place where Mikaela has been dominant. In fact, this was her eighth victory in the place. While there may be numerous reasons for this, one of them is possibly the prize they hand out to the winner of the competition: a reindeer. As the animal is a huge part of the Finnish culture, they are presented to the champion as a piece of the place they were participating in, which is how Mikaela got her eight reindeer this year.

However, the animals do not go home with the skiers, as it is very difficult to nurture them properly with all the duties they have involving the sport. Instead, they stay in Levi itself, on a farm called “Ounasklevari.” They are taken care of properly according to their needs. This year, Mikaela Shiffrin decided to pay a visit to her herd on the farm and see how they were doing.

In an Instagram post uploaded on November 25th, she talked about how numerous fans have asked her over the years about the whereabouts of her reindeers. Mikaela Shiffrin then revealed that they do not live with her but on the farm itself, where the skiers can visit them annually. “I’ve never actually had the chance to visit them, but finally this year I had the opportunity to go see my herd together with my family.” In the video, she was seen greeting the reindeers and then feeding them. This led her to make a hilarious observation. “Turns out, reindeer are nearly as food-motivated as I am” she said.

It was a great sight to see Mikaela visit all these animals, as they’re a huge part of her legacy. Each one represents a championship she won in Levi, and she is the only one who has a full herd. The eight reindeer she won recently would fit right in with the others.

Mikaela Shiffrin’s dominant victory at Levi

Mikaela Shiffrin created history in Levi by extending her wins in the FIS Ski World Cup to 99. Her victory came in a fashion that was typically dominant of her as she defeated two youngsters, Lara Colturi and Camille Rast. She did this without facing too much trouble from either of them. According to Mikaela, she was quite nervous before the final race, possibly because of her underwhelming form at Solden, which saw her finish fifth after numerous mistakes. But she held her nerves this time as she reached closer to the elusive 100 mark.

Now, all eyes will be on the skiier as she tries to reach that milestone on November 30th in Killington. If Mikaela Shiffrin manages to do so, she will have the luxury of celebrating a historic achievement with a home crowd. The skier is aware of this, but she’s trying not to get carried away and concentrate on her skills. Thus, it remains to be seen whether she’ll reach the 100 victories in Killington. In the unlikely case of a defeat, Mikaela will still reach the milestone in the coming months, adding another achievement to her legacy.