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Tag: Mikaela Shiffrin

  • Mikaela Shiffrin Defends Her World Cup Title

    Mikaela Shiffrin defended and retained her World Cup slalom title this weekend. Adding this to her Sochi Olympics gold, she’s already received all the birthday gifts she could dream of–just a few days shy of her 19th birthday. Mikaela led the race from start to finish Saturday–just the way she did in Sochi only two weeks ago.

    Just a year ago Shiffrin claimed this title, and knew it was the beginning of something big.

    “My first win was just amazing, it was the start of all of this,” she said of the 2013 slalom title. “It was finally in my mind, I felt like I could be a good ski racer at the World Cup level.”

    Now her name is an exceptionally well known one–at least among those who watched the Sochi Olympics, and now keep apprised of her post-Olympic races. She was definitely one of American’s sweethearts during the Sochi games.

    Mikaela Shiffrin’s time on Saturday was a combined two-run time of 1 minute, 50.66 seconds. This was 0.60 ahead of Sweden’s Maria Pietilae-Holmner. The only downside to all of this excitement for Mikaela is that her family and personal life definitely takes a way, way back seat to her skiing. She noted that on Saturday while at her competition, making it quite clear that she was missing her father’s birthday.

    As with many of life’s biggest accomplishments, Mikaela Shiffrin’s passion comes with sacrifices–like giving up family time or time to have normal teenage relationships with her friends. Given her tender age, however, it seems she will one day learn how to balance it all–if she hasn’t done so already.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Mikaela Shiffrin Wins Historic Gold for U.S.

    Mikaela Shiffrin has become the first U.S. Alpine women’s skier to win gold at the Sochi Olympics. She dominated the women’s Slalom with a combined time of 1:44.54.

    The victory is even sweeter for Shiffrin because the 18-year-old from Vail, Colorado is also officially the youngest women’s skier to ever win an olympic slalom, according to the Washington Post.

    Her mother said that on top of general pressure and nerves faced by a young olympian and being the surprise favorite, Mikaela was also battling a cold from the Giant Slalom that was held Tuesday entirely in frigid rain.

    “In general it’s nerve-wracking,” Mikaela’s mom Eileen Shiffrin said. “It just is. But she seemed in a good place when she went up there. But it’s funny. Nerves are funny. You can be fine one second and awful the next second. You never know when it’s going to creep in there.”

    But Mikaela didn’t seem to be suffering from nerves as much as her mom thought she would. She beat out some pretty fierce competition with a confidence that can only be manned by an 18-year-old who knows what good is, and she’s it.

    “I was pretty relaxed,” she said. “Thank goodness, because there are a couple points throughout the day where I was like, ‘Oh my God, here we go.’ But no, I was relaxed in the start, and that was awesome.”

    That winning run was very nearly thwarted by a close call early on, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Her left leg seemed to have a small revolt as she cruised down the mountain.

    Her coach, Roland Pfeifer, said, “I thought it was over.”

    To which Mikaela added, “That was scary,” she said. “I thought I was going off the course.”

    But it wasn’t over, not by a long shot. She recovered and skied on to victory.

    The win was welcome for the U.S. as Americans have generally owned Alpine Skiing, taking 12 medals between the Vancouver and Sochi Games. However, the Slalom has thus far escaped American athletes. Until now.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Will Mikaela Shiffrin Become America’s Lindsay Vonn?

    Mikaela Shiffrin is only 18 years old, but in the Olympic world that isn’t so unusual these days. The slalom specialist has her eye on a gold medal in Sochi next month, and with Lindsay Vonn out of the competition, that likely ups the odds of Shiffrin attaining at least one of the medals handed out in her sport. Even Olympic veteran Picabo Street says–as per the above video clip–that with Lindsay out, all eyes will be on Mikaela Shiffrin.

    Mikaela is a World Cup winner and world champion in slalom. She became very emotional singing the National Anthem following a recent World Cup slalom victory in Flachau, Austria.

    “Hopefully I can sing it again in Sochi,” she said in a statement to the Team USA website.

    This was Shiffrin’s second World Cup win in a row and marked the third for her this season alone. These feats make her a strong contender for a gold medal in Sochi, and an American favorite for fans at the games, as well as those watching back home.

    Known for being very grounded, Mikaela Shiffrin hasn’t let this excitement go to her head.

    “If I’m a medal contender, then that just means that I’m going to try to contend for a medal,” she said following her win in Austria. “(But) when my nana tells me that my ski racing is keeping her alive, I think that’s more pressure than any race.”

    Mikaela Shiffrin made her World Cup debut days before her 16th birthday, and just weeks later was crowned the U.S. slalom champion–the youngest ever in U.S. history. All eyes will certainly be on her–they’re actually are on her already–to bring some gold home to the U.S.

    Making the rounds of late night talk shows before heading to Sochi, the young skier still seems unshaken by what’s about to take place.

    “It’s really cool to be a favorite going into the Olympics,” she says. “Imagine being in my position. I’m 18 and I’m going to the Olympics. It’s one of my dreams come true.”

    Chances are, Mikaela Shiffrin’s dreams have just begun–and some really big ones will likely come true.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons