The American star focuses on slalom and giant slalom, emphasizing seasonal performance as a pathway to Olympic success
PARIS:
Mikaela Shiffrin and Marco Odermatt kick off the alpine skiing World Cup season at the Austrian resort of Soelden this weekend, with one eye firmly focused on the Winter Olympic Games in Milano-Cortina in February.
Shiffrin, whose 101 World Cup wins are the most of any skier in history, won slalom gold in Sochi in 2014 as an 18-year-old, and then triumphed in giant slalom in Pyeongchang four years later.
But at the last Olympics, in Beijing in 2022, she failed to finish both of her favoured slaloms and left without a medal.
Shiffrin, who sustained a debilitating puncture wound in a crash last November, insisted this week that her skiing was still “a work in progress”.
“It’s been an incredible journey to work from the end of last season, where I had a total mind-body disconnect, to where I am now,” Shiffrin said.
The American is focusing on the giant slalom and slalom this season, having ruled out competing in the downhill and unsure if she will fully commit to super-G, with the Olympics looming.
“I would love to get a feeling for where I stand in super-G in a World Cup race,” she admitted. “Basically, St Moritz (on December 14) will be the opportunity for me to see where I stand, if it’s even possible to qualify” for the Olympics.
“If it’s not, then I will move forward with GS and slalom and narrow my focus.”
Shiffrin played down the idea that she and her rivals were focusing solely on Cortina, highlighting instead seasonal consistency.
“I don’t think I know really many ski racers who would target the (Olympic) Games over World Cup performance, and the idea that most of us tend to have is the more consistently you perform through the World Cup season, the more you will have momentum, some level of confidence and competence to bring into the Games,” she said.
Vonn, the comeback queenÂ
Shiffrin will be accompanied on the US team by comeback queen Lindsey Vonn, who last week turned 41. She rejoined the US team last season after retiring due to injury in 2019 and duly became the oldest woman to secure a podium place in the World Cup when she finished second in the Sun Valley super-G.
It would be a fifth Olympic outing for Vonn, who has bagged a gold and two bronze medals since making her debut in 2002 in Salt Lake City.
“Every day is about training, working out and making sure my body is as strong and prepared as it can be for this winter,” said Vonn, who underwent a partial knee replacement surgery that cleared her for a return to action.
The American is currently also pain free — she said that her swollen pre-operation knee had “sounded like a chainsaw”.
“That alone is such a gift. No matter what my results are, I’ve already won.”
Alongside posted videos of her intense workouts, Vonn last week added: “Age is just a number. F**k the limits!”
Vonn has appointed former Norwegian ski star Aksel Lund Svindal as her coach.
“To have him officially on my team as we push for the Cortina Games is a huge boost,” she said.
‘Less pressure’ on OdermattÂ
Odermatt heads up contenders in the men’s racing.
The 27-year-old Swiss skier has already bagged four consecutive overall World Cup titles, one Olympic gold and three world gold medals.
“When I started my career, I never imagined I could win so much. All of my dreams have come true,” Odermatt, also a two-time defending World Cup downhill globe winner, told Olympics.com.
“Winning a gold medal is one of my goals, and I will go for it,” he said of the Winter Games, when the men will race on the challenging pistes of Bormio while the women are in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
“I already have a gold medal from Beijing (in giant slalom), so there will be less pressure on me. The calendar will be particularly tough, with the downhill followed by the super-G and then the giant slalom.”
Odermatt heads up an incredibly strong Swiss men’s team also featuring Franjo von Allmen, Loic Meillard, Alexis Monney, Stefan Rogentin and Thomas Tumler. They combined to dominate last season’s world ski championships in Saalbach.
