Mikaela Shiffrin can achieve her 100th World Cup success this weekend at home in Killington. The 29-year-old American has two possibilities of reaching this symbolic mark with the giant on Saturday (3:50 p.m./6:50 p.m. on RTS2) or the slalom the next day (3:50 p.m./6:50 p.m. RTS2). “There’s a bit of pressure, for sure, but I try to ignore it. If it happens, that’s wonderful. If not, there’s no reason to make a big deal out of it.”
The great book of alpine skiing could be enriched with a new chapter this weekend thanks to Mikaela Shiffrin who will have the opportunity to win her 100th World Cup victory. So how can we explain the success story of the American, who was already hurtling down the slopes of Vail at the age of 5?
Since she was very young, she has had her own private cell. She doesn’t waste energy dealing with other things. Everything is done for performance, for better recovery, to avoid injuries
Talent obviously but not only, as the Valaisanne explains to us Camille Rastwho scored his first World Cup podium last weekend. “Already since she was very young, she has had her private cell. She doesn’t waste energy managing other things. Everything is done for performance, for better recovery, to avoid injuries. Everything is done for her and everything is personalized For large federations like Switzerland or Austria, it is sometimes a little harder to have customizations of programs and types of training like she can have..
Shiffrin made her World Cup debut at the age of… 15, scored her first podium at 16, celebrated her first victory at 17 and won Olympic gold at 18! Transition times which inevitably impress Denis Wicki, ex-trainer of Michelle Gisin and Wendy Holdener and who now takes care of Camille Rast and Mélanie Meillard. “She started in FIS at 15. We only heard about her because she already had a level of skiing clearly higher than everyone else. Her career management is remarkable. This may explain this longevity. At the beginning, she competed in few competitions to establish herself in the system..
The rest we know. Mikaela Shiffrin is a two-time Olympic champion and seven-time world champion. She has won the World Cup crystal globe five times and the slalom crown eight times. And all this while she is not yet 30 years old! And his career seems far from over.
Jérôme Jeannin, Romain Roseng and John Nicolet
Swiss
