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Since her return to Alpine snowboarding’s World Cup six weeks in the past, Mikaela Shiffrin has been solely specializing in her strongest occasions: slalom and big slalom.
That may change in two weeks’ time, although.
After ending fourth in a World Cup slalom in Croatia on Sunday, the American three-time general champion was eyeing a return to coaching in velocity occasions, with the Feb. 9-21 world championships in Italy approaching.
Shiffrin received a file fourth straight slalom title, but additionally a super-G gold on the worlds in Sweden two years in the past.
A winner in all six Alpine disciplines, Shiffrin determined to give attention to her core occasions first when she returned to the circuit from a 10-month break in November.
She has not skied on the lengthy boards since profitable a super-G in Bansko, Bulgaria, greater than 11 months in the past.
“I’ve not had time for velocity coaching, but,” mentioned Shiffrin, who will subsequent race an evening slalom in Flachau, Austria, on Jan. 12 and two big slaloms in Maribor, Slovenia, the next weekend.
“Then there could be an opportunity to get one or two periods on super-G skies earlier than (the Jan. 26 big slalom in) Kronplatz,” she mentioned. “That will be supreme — that’s the plan.”
Selecting up super-G coaching once more within the third week of January might allow Shiffrin to compete within the velocity occasions on the world championships.
The Alpine mixed, the super-G and the downhill are all scheduled within the first six days of the championships.
“It’s not out of the playing cards but it surely’s not a certainty proper now,” Shiffrin mentioned. “It actually depends upon what sort of coaching I can get beforehand. I in all probability don’t want numerous coaching however I want some and it must be good and productive.”
Nevertheless, the quantity and high quality of her velocity coaching isn’t the one side Shiffrin will likely be factoring in.
Nationwide federations solely get a restricted variety of beginning spots for every race at world championships, and Shiffrin identified she was reluctant to take a teammate’s place.
However with Shiffrin because the 2019 gold medalist, the U.S. ski crew will get a further beginning berth for the Feb. 9 super-G race.
“That’s good as a result of that opens it up a bit bit,” she mentioned.
Nonetheless, she received’t begin in a velocity race in Cortina d’Ampezzo subsequent month only for the sake of racing it.
“When I’m making an attempt to resolve which races I’m going to do, I don’t need to go in and simply say like: ‘I need to race, as a result of I simply need to and I don’t care the way it goes.’ As a result of we’ve got effectively greater than 4 women who’re all in a position to carry out very well. And that’s all the pieces to them. So, I’m tremendous conscious of that.”
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