Mikaela Shiffrin is on top of the world, chasing more gold
Coming off her third consecutive world championship in slalom, U.S. skier Mikaela Shiffrin still hasn’t had time to fully appreciate the records she continues to break.
Her victory in St. Moritz on Saturday marked the first time in 78 years that a woman has won the slalom at three consecutive worlds. She joins Germany’s Christl Cranz (1937-39) as the only women to complete the three-peat in the discipline.
“The three gold medals it feels more like a label, like a definition,” the 21-year-old from Colorado said Wednesday in an interview by phone with Paste BN Sports. “It doesn’t feel like something that actually happened.”
Shiffrin compared the moment of winning her third slalom gold at worlds to racing to Olympic gold in Sochi in 2014.
“The immediate post-race, there’s a ton of media, a lot of answering questions,” she said. “Obviously all of that is important, and it’s great and I was on a total high. But it doesn’t give a lot of time to let that moment sink in because you’re immediately off to do pictures with the medals, this and that. And the whole day is just taken away. By the time I got back to my hotel room, I was like I just want to go to bed.”
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She’s continuing to train in Switzerland, where World Cup races will be held this weekend in Crans-Montana. In St. Moritz, Shiffrin also won silver in giant slalom, the best finish by an American woman in the discipline at world championships since 1985.
Accolades have been piling up for Shiffrin since she made her World Cup debut in 2011. She’s already the youngest woman in U.S. history to win a world championship and at 18 became the youngest athlete – male or female -- to win the slalom Olympic gold.
As Shiffrin closes in on her first overall World Cup title, she says it’s taken some time getting used to being the best skier in the world, not just No. 1 in slalom.
“Technically on paper, that’s what I am,” she said of being overall No. 1. “Of course it feels good to be in this position right now. It definitely gives me hope or an optimistic attitude going into the Olympics. But at the same time, there’s a lot of time between now and then. I’m trying to take everything in stride and not get too amped up. Because it’s really, really easy to get too excited too soon and then not be excited enough when the time actually comes.”
With about a month of racing left in the season, Shiffrin is heavily favored in the overall World Cup race. She’s 180 points ahead of Lara Gut, second in the standings. The Swiss skier and 2016 overall World Cup champion tore her ACL at the world championships this month.
Only four Americans have won the overall World Cup title. Lindsey Vonn has won the crystal globe four times, with the last one coming in 2012, and Bode Miller has done it twice. Tamara McKinney (1983) and Phil Mahre (1981, ’82, ’83) are the other Americans to win the overall.
“All of those names, those are all my idols, my childhood heroes,” said Shiffrin, who grew up skiing in Vail. “To be mentioned alongside them would be incredible, and hopefully it will inspire another generation of racers from the U.S.”’
To that end, Shiffrin embraces being a role model and inspiration for young skiers.
“When I get back to the U.S. and I go to those races in Squaw Valley or in Aspen and we see the huge turnout of fans and the entire elementary school comes out to support us … that’s the kind of stuff that inspires me. I think it’s just as cool for me to see that as it is for them to see us racing. It reminds me of not long ago when I was that kid who just wanted to catch a glimpse of Bode Miller or Lindsey or Ted (Ligety).”
After racing in Switzerland, Shiffrin plans to travel to Pyeongchang, South Korea, to check out the venues for next year’s Olympics but she won’t compete there in early March. Then she’s off to Squaw Valley for World Cup races on March 10-11 before the World Cup Finals in Aspen.
PHOTOS: MIKAELA SHIFFRIN IN ACTION