American teen Alpine skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin competed in a downhill and super-G in Sochi last February, strapped on downhill skis for the first time in her life in April and considered doing super-combined this upcoming season.
Upon further consideration, she’ll keep it simple in the run up to the Sochi Olympics. Shiffrin, 18, plans to only compete in the slalom and giant slalom next season, she told Ski Racing Magazine.
“I’ve been thinking about speed, but now it’s more for training and getting used to going fast -- and it’s also helping me with my (giant slalom),” Shiffrin said. “But otherwise, I’m going to focus on tech and try to keep it simple this year. I’ll dabble in speed over the next few years.”
Shiffrin became the youngest women’s world Alpine skiing champion since 1985 when she captured the slalom at age 17 in Schladming, Austria, in February. She also placed sixth in the giant slalom at worlds, a career-best finish in the discipline in a World Cup or world championships race.
That sixth-place finish added additional buzz going into Sochi that Shiffrin could be a multiple medal threat. She still certainly is, but it looks like, for now, her Olympic program will be capped at two events.
That was to be expected. Her downhill and super-G runs at the Russian national championships, where non-Russians are allowed to compete, were her first speed races since Nor-Am Cups three years ago.
It will create an interesting timeline for U.S. women’s Alpine skiing come February. Reigning Olympic downhill champion Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso, the 2010 Olympic silver medalist in the downhill and super combined, will star in the early events. The super combined is Feb. 10, the downhill is Feb. 12 and the super-G is Feb. 15.
The spotlight would then shift to Shiffrin in the second week. The giant slalom is Feb. 18 and the slalom is Feb. 21, two days before the closing ceremony.
Shiffrin is currently training in New Zealand, where it’s winter, for a couple more weeks. She recently had to give up her Audi RS 5, which she won at the world championships in February. She won the world title in the slalom, went to the Audi hospitality tent and got to pick out a prize from a bowl (or something similar). The prize ended up being a one-month use of an Audi RS 5, which Shiffrin clearly enjoyed.