She was the beam woman, the guarantee of success who caused a sensation in the alpine ski circus at a young age: Mikaela Shiffrin. But last winter changed a lot for the now 25-year-old popular figure from the USA.
On February 2, her father Jeff died unexpectedly of a head injury sustained in an accident at home. Shiffrin immediately traveled home. The five-time world champion and two-time Olympic champion returned to the World Cup at the end of November and won another race in mid-December: the Courchevel giant slalom. It was the 67th World Cup victory of her career – with it she moved to third place in the all-time best list with Austrian Marcel Hirscher. “Somehow it feels like my first win,” she said through tears.
Question: Ms. Shiffrin, you have had an extremely difficult year. Your father Jeff died unexpectedly in February at the age of 65. You recently competed again for the first time after a 300-day break, and then even won on December 14th – how emotional was it for you?
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