She grins and dismisses the comparison as the Taylor Swift of skiing. If everything goes as it goes, Mikaela Shiffrin will break the next fabulous marks on her way to becoming an all-time great on the slopes this winter. Only three wins are missing from her 100th World Cup victory. If the American remains injury-free, her sixth triumph in the overall World Cup will be difficult to take away from her. And yet the negative experiences of the previous season have left a mark on the 29-year-old. The first consequence is that she skips the descent. One reason for foregoing the fastest discipline is her serious fall and injury break last season in Cortina d’Ampezzo. Shiffrin recounted timing issues before the accident. She hadn’t been on downhill skis for almost 50 days after her surprising victory in St. Moritz. “More Super-G, but no downhill skiing this season,” is the new approach.
Shiffrin’s top goal for the season is to “literally stay the way I am.” She praises Lara Gut-Behrami’s recapture of the overall World Cup as “my guiding star” for the World Cup winter. With the sixth big ball she would draw level with record winner Annemarie Moser-Pröll. When it comes to hundreds, she keeps the ball low, but lets it be known that she cares about the mark just as much as she cares about improving Ingemar Stenmark’s record (86 wins). She hasn’t had placement goals in the traditional sense for a long time. “I just want to keep doing what I’m doing and work hard.”
Difficult months lie behind her. The fate of her partner Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who suffered serious leg and shoulder injuries in Wengen, was a blow. Shiffrin speaks of a life-changing moment, such as the death of her father Jeff in 2020. The dream ski couple apparently even thought about retiring together. “There were moments when we felt tired.” At least symbolically, they became even closer together with their engagement in April. The ring was designed so that it also fits in racing gloves.
While Shiffrin is getting started again, Kilde is still far from making a comeback nine months after the mishap. In July, the Norwegian downhill skier had to go under the knife again due to an infection in his shoulder. “We thought he got through it. That made it even more difficult,” Shiffrin said. Kilde, however, emphasized his goal of returning to the World Cup. Because he is only able to train to a limited extent due to ongoing antibiotic use, he has now enrolled in a distance learning course in London (finance and real estate).
Shiffrin is also thinking about the future. “At some point I want to have a family, there are other things I want to experience – all of that becomes more important every year.” Her focus is still on sport. “As long as there is motivation and willingness to make sacrifices, I will continue.” The couple has had their common “home base” in Innsbruck for some time. Both tend to rule out the possibility of staying in Tyrol after their careers.
Shiffrin is worried about the social climate in her home country. She is particularly concerned with women’s right to self-determination and the abortion debate in the USA. “There are a lot of people who don’t seem to have a problem telling women how to manage their own health. That’s scary. I’m worried.”
In the final stretch of the US presidential election, she wants to use her reach to publicly call for people to go to the polls. She will not give her almost 1.5 million Instagram followers an election recommendation for Kamala Harris – as pop icon Taylor Swift did. “I know that my voice has a certain weight. But I don’t want to tell anyone what to do.”
The opinion leader in alpine sports shrugs off comparisons with Swift. Although Swift’s songs are a faithful companion for her and there are parallels to her sport in terms of rhythm. Last but not least, Shiffrin has artistic aspirations for herself. Skiing combines brute strength with a certain beauty. “I want to play with this balance between brutality and beauty. There are creative approaches that you can copy,” explained Shiffrin.
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