100 of the Most Influential Women in Sport >> Athletes

Mikaela Shiffrin, USA

Downhill Skiing

On the day Lindsey Vonn tearfully closed the book on her alpine skiing career, Mikaela Shiffrin remained on trajectory for heights that her superstar predecessor would have thought unreachable. Every time Shiffrin descends from a summit, she remains on top of the world. In Are, Sweden for the 2019 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, the American not only won the slalom – becoming the first skier in history to win four consecutive titles in any event – but clinched the breakneck-fast super-G title as well. Considering the 23-year-old only became a serious super-G racer two years ago, she has the type of preternatural talent that must make her fellow competitors seethe in private. Shiffrin’s success in every World Cup discipline is perhaps her most staggering accomplishment. She may strap on the same skis and hurtle downhill in much the same way, but the technical subtleties of a sport that is often decided by a thousandth or two of a second can hardly be underestimated. Slalom, giant slalom, super-G, combined, parallel slalom and downhill – at some point she has stood on top of the podium for all six. No one else in history has achieved that, either. That’s the thing with Shiffrin. Every report, biography, feature, news item there is to come across about her will contain some combination of the words ‘all-time’, ‘historic’, ‘first’ and ‘records’. It’s what she does. In a new first, she afforded herself a break from the World Cup calendar in February, before finishing up at the World Cup finals in Andorra. Shiffrin, who turned 24 on March 13, spoke of a grumbly back before shelving her skis and won the slalom title in Are despite coming down with a heavy cold. Shiffrin is just 25 World Cup wins away from equalling Vonn’s record and has seen how her compatriot has suffered with injuries throughout her career – which is why it reached its conclusion that day in Sweden. Alpine skiing wracks the body with forces like few other sports and Shiffrin, 11 years Vonn’s junior, is wary of growing old before her time. With luck she will remain both a historical and contemporary figure for years to come.

– Her parents Jeff and Eileen are former professional skiiers, while her brother used to race for the University of Denver.

– Shiffrin made her World Cup debut at 15 years, 363 days and became the youngest American to win a national title at the US National Championships in Colarado – her home state – just a week later.

– Her first World Cup race victory came in December 2012, which made her the second youngest American at 17 (behind Judy Nagel) to achieve the feat.

– She went for history at the Pyeongchang Winter Games in 2018 by competing in four events, but had to settle for giant slalom gold and super combined silver.

– Her slalom win in Semmering, Austria in December 2018 saw him become the first alpine skiier to take 15 World Cup wins in a calendar year.

Did you know…

Shiffrin’s motto has adorned her helmet and skis in acronym from since she was little: ABFTTB – Always Be Faster Than The Boys.

“From the outside, people see the records and stats. Those numbers dehumanise the sport and what every athlete is trying to achieve. What I see is an enormous mixture of work, training, joy, heartache, motivation, laughs, stress, sleepless nights, triumph, pain, doubt, certainty, more doubt, more work, more training, surprises, delayed flights, canceled flights, lost luggage, long drives through the night, expense, more work, adventure, and some races mixed in there.” – Mikaela Shiffrin

Twitter: @MikaelaShiffrin

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