Mikaela Shiffrin is having a festive season as she excels in slalom races at the beginning of the Olympic season, clinching victory in all four World Cup events so far. Despite facing significant setbacks from major crashes, she is also showing improvement in other skiing disciplines.
Shiffrin expressed her satisfaction with her performance this season, highlighting her ability to deliver top-quality turns under pressure. She emphasized the challenges of each race start, emphasizing the effort required to maintain high-level skiing consistently.
Returning to Semmering, Austria, where she has previously secured seven of her impressive 105 World Cup wins, Shiffrin is set to compete in two races this weekend: a giant slalom on Saturday and a slalom on Sunday.
Although renowned for her success in slalom, with a record 22 World Cup wins in the discipline, Shiffrin has faced difficulties in giant slalom following a severe crash last season. Despite this, she has shown progress, finishing fourth in recent races and aiming for continuous improvement.
In a recent super-G event in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Shiffrin demonstrated her determination to diversify her skiing program, with an eye on potentially adding super-G to her repertoire for the upcoming Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina.
Shiffrin’s dominance in slalom has been remarkable this season, winning races with significant margins and displaying exceptional recovery from mistakes. This marks a stark contrast to her struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder in the previous season.
With the possibility of competing in four events at the upcoming Olympics, including the team combined event, Shiffrin aims to build on her previous Olympic successes. Alongside teammate Breezy Johnson, she secured gold in the team combined event at the last season’s world championships.
The prospect of forming a formidable skiing “Dream Team” with veteran skier Lindsey Vonn for the team combined event adds an exciting dimension to Shiffrin’s Olympic aspirations. Vonn, showing strong form this season at 41, brings added depth to their potential partnership.