“I actually am very lucky. I could have had a lot more damage than I did,” reflected Mikaela Shiffrin, the alpine skier with the most World Cup wins in history. Last season took a dramatic turn when she crashed during the women’s downhill event in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. While racing, she lost control while landing a jump in a soft patch of snow, flying into the protective nets and leaving the crowd in shock.
Medics quickly attended to her as she limped off the course, her left boot raised to signal her injury. Following protocol, she was airlifted down the mountain for further evaluation and then taken by ambulance to the hospital. After a few months of rehab, she triumphantly returned in March, winning her last two slalom races and finishing the season with nine victories—the highest for any woman. Now, as she prepares for the upcoming FIS Skiing World Cup season, she’s got some news to share.
In a candid chat with NBC Sports, Mikaela Shiffrin opened up about the training challenges she faced, sharing some solid advice from her team from last season. “When I was talking with my team last year, they were like, look, we are trying,” she remembered, “but it’s sort of physically impossible for you to get the preparation to be in winning shape in every event.”
With weather patterns throwing a wrench into their plans, she pointed out how tricky it’s become to create effective training schedules. “You normally aren’t training at the same places for tech (GS and slalom) as you are for speed (downhill and super-G), so you’re sacrificing something always,” she explained, giving us a glimpse into the tough balancing act that athletes have to manage.
This realization led Shiffrin and her crew to cook up a new strategy: “That’s when we came up with this idea of trying to target super-G.” Understanding that downhill events require a ton of time—“One race takes three to four days with training runs”—they decided to streamline her focus. This shift lets her focus her energy better, zeroing in on the super-G events that bring excitement while still giving her a solid chance at winning.
This story is developing….
The post 2023 Crash Leads Mikaela Shiffrin to Make Crucial Decision, With Historic Record on Line at FIS Ski World Cup: “Physically Impossible” appeared first on EssentiallySports.
