Michaela Shiffrin, who came to the Olympics with high hopes, did a lot of introspection after failing to win a medal and not completing three of her five individual events at last year’s Beijing Games.
“You can put up with the fact that sometimes things don’t go the way I really want,” said the American skier. “Even though I work hard, I work really hard and I think I’m doing the right thing, sometimes it doesn’t work and that’s the way it is. That is life. Sometimes you fail, sometimes you succeed. . I feel much more comfortable in both extremes and probably stress less overall.”
This stress-relief approach has worked well for Shiffrin, whose World Cup season is breaking records.
But the record hunt for this version – Shiffrin surpassed Lindsey Vonn for the most Women’s World Championship wins in history and only needs one addition to match Ingemar Stenmark’s tally of 86 – is now on hold as Shiffrin turned to another. challenge: attending her first major event since Beijing.
The Alpine Skiing World Championships kick off on Monday in Courchevel and Méribel, France, and Shiffrin will once again be a medal contender in all four events she can compete in.
While it may not get as much attention, especially in the United States, countries around the world follow an almost identical format for the Olympic cross-country skiing program.
“Actually, no, not really,” Shiffrin said. “If I’ve learned anything in the past year, it’s that these big events can be amazing, they can be bad, and you’ll still survive. So I don’t care.”
Additionally, Shiffrin, 27, said on another recent day: “I am more comfortable with the pressure and adapt to the pressure of the game. That way I can really enjoy the process.”
While World Championship victories do not count against Shiffrin in the World Cup overall, they add to her almost equally impressive world career record.
In total, Shiffrin has won six golds and 11 medals in 13 races in the second biggest skiing event since the Olympics. The last time she went without a medal at world competitions was eight years ago when she was a teenager.
She recently said she was “pretty sure” she wouldn’t race downhill. And she probably won’t be doing side events either because she has a rough back.
The combination she dominated at the last World Championship in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy two years ago, will open on Monday. This is a race that combines super-G and slalom.
The World Championship will take place in two different locations, located 15 minutes from each other, but connected by lifts and ski slopes.
The women’s race will take place in Méribel at the Roque de Fer, designed for the 1992 Games in Albertville, while the men’s race will take place at the new l’Eclipse circuit in Courchevel, which made its debut during last season’s World Cup final.
Shiffrin excels in slalom and giant slalom, while her Norwegian boyfriend Alexander Aamodt Kilde is an expert in downhill and super-G.
A former World Cup overall champion, Beijing Olympic silver medalist (overall) and bronze medalist (super G), Kielder is still chasing his first medal at the World Championships, having missed the 2021 competition due to injury.
After the US men’s and women’s teams won just one medal each in Beijing, the team is hoping for more medals at this tournament, not just Shiffrin.
Ryan Cochran-Seagle, who won last year’s Olympic super-G silver, continues to pose a threat to medals in several disciplines. In addition, Travis Ganong finished third in the dreaded downhill race at Kitzbühel in his farewell season.
For women, Paula Molzan finished second behind Shiffrin in December, the first time since 1971 that the US won 1-2 in Women’s World Cup Slalom. Molzan has now qualified for the top seven women’s slalom events. In addition, Breezy Johnson and Nina O’Brien continue to recover from injury.
“People always talk about how many medals do you want to win? What is the purpose? What’s your phone number? I think it’s important for us to ski as much as possible,” said US Ski Resort Director Patrick Riml. ) said he was re-hired by the team after a disappointing performance in Beijing.
“I’m focused on the process – get out, turn around, and then I think we have the potential to win some medals,” Riml added. “I’m excited about where we are and how we’re going to move forward.”
Post time: Feb-01-2023