Mikaela Shiffrin

Mikaela Shiffrin
— Alpine skier —

Image from 2012
Disciplines Slalom, Giant slalom,
Super G, Downhill, Combined
Club Burke Mountain Academy
Born (1995-03-13) March 13, 1995
Vail, Colorado, U.S.
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
World Cup debut March 11, 2011 (age 15)
Website facebook.com
Olympics
Teams 1 – (2014)
Medals 1 (1 gold)
World Championships
Teams 2 – (2013, 2015)
Medals 2 (2 gold)
World Cup
Seasons 6th – (2012–17)
Wins 22 – (21 SL, 1 GS)
Podiums 33 – (26 SL, 6 GS, 1 PSL)
Overall titles 0 – (4th in 2015)
Discipline titles 3 – (SL, 2013–15)
Medal record
Women's alpine skiing
Representing the
 United States
Olympic Games
2014 Sochi Slalom
World Championships
2013 Schladming Slalom
2015 Beaver Creek Slalom
Junior World Ski Championships
2011 Crans-Montana Slalom

Mikaela Pauline Shiffrin (born March 13, 1995) is an American World Cup alpine ski racer with the U.S. Ski Team, specializing in the technical events of slalom and giant slalom, but in 2016 season she started to compete in super G and combined. Finally, on 02 December 2016 she debuted in a downhill race in Lake Louise and finished 18th. A day later she finished 13th. She is the reigning Olympic and world champion in slalom.[1] Shiffrin is the youngest slalom champion in Olympic alpine skiing history, at 18 years and 345 days.[2][3][4][5]

Background and early years

Born in Vail, Colorado, Shiffrin is the second child of Eileen (née Condron) and Jeff Shiffrin, both originally from the Northeast and former ski racers.[6][7] When Mikaela was eight in 2003, the family moved to rural New Hampshire near Lyme,[8] where her anesthesiologist father worked at Dartmouth–Hitchcock Medical Center. After five years, he took a new job in Denver;[9] her older brother Taylor was in high school at Burke Mountain Academy in northeastern Vermont, and stayed. Shiffrin also attended Burke for middle school, but went with her parents to Colorado, but soon returned to Burke.[10][11]

Shiffrin began rising up through the ranks in alpine racing as soon as she was old enough to compete in FIS sanctioned races. While meeting the minimum age requirement of 15 years, she won a Nor-Am Cup super combined race in December 2010 at Panorama in British Columbia, only the eighth FIS-level race in which she had competed. Shiffrin followed it up by three podiums in her next three Nor-Am races: runner-up in a super-G, third in a GS, and victory in a slalom. Weeks later, she won a pair of Nor-Am slalom races held at Sunday River, Maine. A month later Shiffrin took the slalom bronze medal at the FIS Junior World Ski Championships held at Crans-Montana, Switzerland (after having been down with a stomach flu the day before).[12] In 2014 she was named one of ESPNW's Impact 25.[13]

World Cup

Shiffrin made her World Cup debut on March 11, 2011, in a giant slalom at Špindlerův Mlýn in the Czech Republic. In early April, just a few weeks after her 16th birthday, she won the slalom title at the U.S. National Championships at Winter Park, Colorado,[14] and became the youngest American ski racer to claim a national alpine crown.[15]

2012 season

On December 29, 2011, Shiffrin made her first World Cup podium at a slalom in Lienz, Austria. She started fortieth and lost her left shin guard halfway down, but finished in 12th place in the first run. Shiffrin, age 16, then posted the fastest time in the second run to secure third place.[16][17][18]

2013 season

Shiffrin won her first World Cup race in December 2012 at age 17, in a night slalom in Åre, Sweden.[19] She became the second-youngest American to win an alpine World Cup event, behind Judy Nagel (17 yr, 5 mo.).[20] Shiffrin's second win came two weeks later at a night slalom at Zagreb, Croatia;[21] and her third win 11 days later at another night slalom in Flachau, Austria.[22] After winning the slalom at the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, she secured the 2013 season title in the slalom discipline.[1] Though she spent most of her last two years of high school in Europe on the World Cup circuit, she graduated on time from Burke Mountain Academy in June.[23][24]

2014 season

Shiffrin opened the 2014 season in October 2013 in Sölden, Austria, with a career-best sixth in giant slalom, within a half-second of the podium. She won the next event, a slalom at Levi, Finland, improving on her podium finish the previous year for her fifth World Cup victory. At Beaver Creek, she was runner-up in the giant slalom, her first World Cup podium in that discipline. On January 5, Shiffrin secured first place in a two-run slalom race in Bormio, Italy (the race took place there instead of being, as scheduled, in Zagreb due to bad snow/weather conditions). She also won the world cup slalom races in Flachau, Åre and Lenzerheide, to secure a consecutive World Cup slalom title. Shiffrin ended the season as the reigning Olympic, World Cup, and world champion in slalom.

2015 season

Shiffrin opened the 2015 season in October 2014 in Sölden with her first World Cup win in giant slalom. She had some trouble with slalom at first and ended up outside the podium on the first three World Cup slalom races, but did win the races at Kühtai, Zagreb, Maribor, Åre and Méribel.[25][26][27][28] She ended up winning the slalom world cup title once again.[29] Shiffrin also won the World Championship in slalom held in Beaver Creek next to her home city Vail, USA.

2016 season

In the first two slalom races of the 2016 season, both in Aspen, Shiffrin won by large margins, and in her first race, she achieved a new record margin for women's slalom, 3.07 seconds over the runner-up. On December 12, 2015, during the warm-up for the giant slalom in Åre, she fell and injured her knee. After two months away from racing, Shiffrin made a successful return in her first race back on February 15, 2016, where she took her 18th victory in Crans-Montana. In the 2016 season, she won all five slaloms she started. Unfortunately, she missed the other five slaloms due to injuries, and chose not to compete in a parallel slalom in Stockholm.[30]

2017 season

Shiffrin opened the 2017 season with a second place finish in giant slalom at Sölden in October 2016.This was followed by a victory in slalom at Levi on the twelfth of November. On November 26, 2016, she finished fifth in giant slalom at Killington in her first World Cup race in Vermont, but she returned the following day to a first place finish in the slalom. [31]

Appearances

Days after her first World Cup finals in 2013, slalom champion Shiffrin was interviewed by David Letterman on the Late Show on March 19.[32][33]

In 2014, Shiffrin was featured in a one-hour special on NBC television, How to Raise an Olympian, on February 5. Hosted by Meredith Vieira, it chronicled the journeys of seven U.S. Olympians and featured interviews from parents and coaches along with home video and photos from each athlete's childhood. The event was broadcast on television with live social-media components to enhance each segment.

On July 12, 2014, Shiffrin was a guest on the NPR radio show Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!,[34] where she won the show's Not My Job game at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

World Cup results

Season titles

Season Discipline
2013 Slalom
2014 Slalom
2015 Slalom

Season standings

Season Age Overall Slalom Giant
 slalom  		Super-G Downhill Combined
2012 16 43 17 49 — — —
2013 17 5 1 19 — — —
2014 18 6 1 7 — — —
2015 19 4 1 3 — — —
2016 20 10 4 21 39 — 23
2017 21 1 1 2 18

Standings through 2 Dec 2016.

Race victories

Season Date Location Discipline
2013 20 Dec 2012 Sweden Åre, Sweden Slalom
4 Jan 2013 Croatia Zagreb, Croatia Slalom
15 Jan 2013 Austria Flachau, Austria Slalom
16 Mar 2013  Switzerland  Lenzerheide, Switzerland Slalom
2014 16 Nov 2013 Finland Levi, Finland Slalom
5 Jan 2014 Italy Bormio, Italy Slalom
14 Jan 2014 Austria Flachau, Austria Slalom
8 Mar 2014 Sweden Åre, Sweden Slalom
15 Mar 2014  Switzerland  Lenzerheide, Switzerland Slalom
2015 25 Oct 2014 Austria Sölden, Austria   Giant slalom
29 Dec 2014 Austria Kühtai, Austria Slalom
4 Jan 2015 Croatia Zagreb, Croatia Slalom
22 Feb 2015 Slovenia Maribor, Slovenia Slalom
14 Mar 2015 Sweden Åre, Sweden Slalom
21 Mar 2015 France Méribel, France Slalom
2016 28 Nov 2015 United States Aspen, USA Slalom
29 Nov 2015 Slalom
15 Feb 2016  Switzerland  Crans-Montana, Switzerland Slalom
6 Mar 2016 Slovakia Jasná, Slovakia Slalom
19 Mar 2016  Switzerland  St. Moritz, Switzerland Slalom
2017 12 Nov 2016 Finland Levi, Finland Slalom
27 Nov 2016 United States Killington, USA Slalom

World Championship results

Shiffrin competed in her first World Championships in 2013 at Schladming, Austria, and finished sixth in the giant slalom at Planai. Two days later in the slalom, she won the world title at age 17.[35]

  Year    Age   Slalom   Giant 
 slalom  		Super-G Downhill Combined
2013 17 1 6 — — —
2015 19 1 8 — — —

Olympic results

Favored to win the slalom at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Shiffrin led after the first run and nearly fell in the second, but held on for victory at Rosa Khutor. Three weeks shy of her 19th birthday, she became the youngest slalom champion in Olympic history.[2][3][4][5] Three days earlier, she finished fifth in the giant slalom, held in the rain.[36]

  Year    Age   Slalom   Giant 
 slalom  		Super-G Downhill Combined
2014 18 1 5 — — —

Personal

Shiffrin's father Jeff grew up in New Jersey, but was an avid skier on weekends in Vermont with his family; as an undergraduate, he raced for Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.[10] Her mother Eileen raced in high school in northwestern Massachusetts in the Berkshires,[7] and brother Taylor (b. 1992), races for the University of Denver.[37]

References

  1. 1 2 Mintz, Geoff (March 16, 2013). "Shiffrin comes from behind to claim season slalom title". Ski Racing.com.
  2. 1 2 "Mikaela Shiffrin wins gold in slalom". ESPN. Associated Press. February 21, 2014. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  3. 1 2 Dufresne, Chris (February 21, 2014). "Sochi Olympics: Mikaela Shiffrin overcomes near crash to win gold". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  4. 1 2 "U.S. teen Mikaela Shiffrin wins historic Olympic slalom gold". CBS News. CBS/Associated Press. February 21, 2014. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  5. 1 2 "Shiffrin becomes youngest ever Olympic slalom champion". International Ski Federation (FIS). February 21, 2014. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  6. ↑ Megroz, Gordy (October 12, 2011). "Groomed for success". Outside. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  7. 1 2 Sullivan, Brian (February 16, 2014). "Olympic skier Mikaela Shiffrin has roots in Berkshires". Berkshire Eagle. Pittsfield, MA. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
  8. ↑ Pennington, Bill (January 9, 2014). "Mikaela Shiffrin's swift, if unplanned, ascent to World Champion". New York Times. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Jeff Shiffrin, MD". University of Colorado, School of Medicine. Retrieved April 26, 2014.
  10. 1 2 Layden, Tim (February 2014). "Young, gifted, and oh so fast". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
  11. ↑ Svrluga, Barry (January 24, 2014). "Sochi 2014: Mikaela Shiffrin, 18, is poised to be next great American skier". Washington Post. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Shiffrin goes from sick bed to podium at Junior Worlds". Ski Racing. February 3, 2011.
  13. ↑ "2014 espnW Impact 25". Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Granstrom, Shiffrin take U.S. National slalom titles; Ford, Schleper win combined". Ski Racing.com. April 3, 2011.
  15. ↑ Alpine Young Guns: Mikaela Shiffrin, International Ski Federation, Oberhofen/Thunersee, Switzerland: International Ski Federation (FIS), 2011.
  16. ↑ FIS Results – World Cup – women's slalom – 2011-12-29
  17. ↑ Universal Sports – video – Mikaela Shiffrin – first World Cup podium – 2011-12-29
  18. ↑ Williams, Eric (December 29, 2011). "Shiffrin third in Lienz slalom, Schild wins again, Schleper retires". Ski Racing.
  19. ↑ Mintz, Geoff (December 20, 2012). "Shiffrin wins first career World Cup". Ski Racing.
  20. ↑ "Teen Mikaela Shiffrin wins". U.S. Ski Team. December 20, 2012.
  21. ↑ Mintz, Geoff (January 4, 2013). "Shiffrin picks up second career win at Zagreb, Croatia". Ski Racing. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  22. ↑ Mintz, Geoff (January 15, 2013). "Shiffrin picks up third win in Flachau, as first-run leader Hoefl-Riesch clips gate". Ski Racing. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  23. ↑ Springer, Shira (February 6, 2014). "Mikaela Shiffrin poised to be next US Olympic star". Boston Globe. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
  24. ↑ Whiteside, Kelly (February 6, 2014). "Mikaela Shiffrin poised to be USA's headliner in Sochi". USA Today. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
  25. ↑ Zaccardi, Nick (December 29, 2014). "Mikaela Shiffrin wins 10th career World Cup slalom, breaks record". nbcsports.com. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  26. ↑ Zaccardi, Nick (January 4, 2015). "Snow Queen Mikaela Shiffrin dominates Zagreb slalom". nbcsports.com. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  27. ↑ Zaccardi, Nick (February 22, 2015). "Mikaela Shiffrin wins Maribor slalom, snags World Cup lead in teenage finale". nbcsports.com. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  28. ↑ Zaccardi, Nick (March 14, 2015). "Mikaela Shiffrin shares podium with girl with leukemia". nbcsports.com. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  29. ↑ Zaccardi, Nick (March 21, 2015). "Mikaela Shiffrin takes third straight World Cup slalom season title". nbcsports.com. Retrieved March 21, 2015.
  30. ↑ "SHIFFRIN Mikaela - Biographie". data.fis-ski.com. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  31. ↑ "Alpine Skiing - Athlete: Mikaela SHIFFRIN". FIS-SKI. Retrieved 2016-11-28.
  32. ↑ Keppler, Justin (March 20, 2013). "World Cup slalom champ Mikaela Shiffrin visits the Late Show with David Letterman". The Ski Channel. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  33. ↑ "Mikaela Shiffrin on Late Show with David Letterman". You Tube. (video). March 19, 2013. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  34. ↑ "Boulder Weekly, 07-03-2014".
  35. ↑ Mintz, Geoff (February 16, 2013). "17-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin, your 2013 slalom World Champion". Ski Racing.
  36. ↑ Mintz, Geoff (February 18, 2014). "Maze shines in rainy Russia". Ski Racing. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  37. ↑ "Taylor Shiffrin". University of Denver Athletics. Skiing. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
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