Mikaela Shiffrin is ready for the Alpine skiing season. Just ask the guys.
Shiffrin, 18, has been beating some of her male teammates in training leading up to the World Cup season opener in Soelden, Austria, on Saturday, according to the Associated Press.
“Yeah, but that’s training,” U.S. women’s coach Alex Hoedlmoser said, according to the AP. “She had an incredible preparation, is skiing really well. Everything went well. The equipment works, she’s in good spirits and she’s skiing well. So she’s ready, but you can’t compare it with guys.”
Roland Pfeifer, coach of the U.S. technical team, said Shiffrin beating men is “a little bit misleading.”
“She’s doing a great job, but I’m not able to tell what this is going to be,” he said, not wanting to say which male skiers she beat, according to the AP. “But for sure we are really looking for a podium. That’s (what) she’s here for.”
Shiffrin’s ultimate goal is to be an overall contender across technical and speed events like Lindsey Vonn, but she plans to only race slalom and giant slalom this season and at the Olympics.
She is the reigning world champion and World Cup season champion in the slalom and placed sixth in the giant slalom at the World Championships in February.