Ski World Cup Mikaela Shiffrin: “No question about the trainer, otherwise she will break off the interview”

Stand: 16.02.2023 | Reading time: 3 minutes

MIkaela Shiffrin’s first gold ride at the Alpine World Ski Championships in France was accompanied by plenty of background noise. In addition to the title of the American in giant slalom, her hustle and bustle as a coach was also of particular interest. “No questions about Mike Day” was the clear message from the 27-year-old camp, which was passed on to the journalists by a spokeswoman for the world association Fis. Otherwise, Shiffrin will break off the interviews, it said.

In the past few days, the high-flyer had announced the separation from her long-time coach Day – a bang in the middle of a World Cup. “It also shows that they didn’t part on good terms after all,” commented former Liechtenstein ski racer Tina Weirather on Shiffrin’s behavior on Thursday.

At the press conference, Shiffrin could no longer prevent the question of “why?”, but gallantly avoided it. “Everyone wonders about the timing. It was never my intention to announce it during the World Cup. He was an important part of my career,” Shiffrin said in a shaky voice.

Shiffrin also determines the debates off the slopes

There is wild speculation about the reasons. Ski experts are relatively unanimous that mother Eileen may have played a crucial role. She pulls the strings in Shiffrin’s private team and is in charge of sporting issues. Shiffrin also determines the debates off the slopes at the World Cup. For example, the Colorado athlete was verbally attacked by environmentalists because they thought Shiffrin would fly to training by helicopter instead of taking a 40-minute drive. The American, who had recently criticized the climate protection measures of the world association Fis as insufficient, however, announced that she had rejected an offer from the ski club for a helicopter. “It’s been a lot of stress the past few days. It was very difficult to stay focused,” Shiffrin said.

Ultimately, all the hustle and bustle did not harm your sporting performance. After silver in the Super-G, the most successful ski racer in history with 85 World Cup victories won her second medal at the title fights in France and her seventh World Championship gold. For a few seconds, the all-rounder lay in the Méribel snow and put her hands in front of her face.

The superlatives for Shiffrin are gradually running out

As expected, the German starters did not play a major role: Kira Weidle and Jessica Hilzinger were eliminated, the young Emma Aicher finished 31st. Meanwhile, the superlatives for Shiffrin are gradually running out. She is considered one of the hardest workers in the ski scene. Coupled with her exceptional talent, this is probably the most dangerous mixture in alpine history. This is also reflected in the numbers: Shiffrin has competed in 241 World Cups so far, and she has won around every third race. There are also 13 World Championship medals and three at the Olympics. No female ski racer has won more precious metal at world championships since the Second World War.

And Shiffrin’s French World Cup fairy tale is not over yet. On Saturday she is the gold favorite in the slalom. Maybe then the focus will be more on their sporting performance.