Something new for Shiffrin: A teammate challenges her at world championships

Earlier than the second run, they stood shut on the hill inspecting the course. Shared a elevate journey up the hill. And exchanged sort phrases earlier than snowboarding down, one after the opposite.

It felt like an unusual coaching session, fairly than the decisive run for gold.

Whereas O’Brien dropped to tenth, Shiffrin earned a silver medal behind Swiss winner Lara Intestine-Behrami to offer her one in all every shade at these worlds — and together with her greatest occasion, slalom, nonetheless to return.

In complete, Shiffrin now has 10 profession world championship medals to go along with three Olympic ones.

“I’ve by no means been on this place to take a look at my teammate once we’re each happening battling for a medal,” Shiffrin mentioned. “The final two racers with an opportunity for a medal is at all times a particular feeling however having your teammate there, it feels totally different. It’s actually cool.”

For the U.S. ski staff this was a primary — however not a fluke.

In slalom and GS, it was all about Shiffrin for a few years. However the entire tech staff is having a breakout season on the World Cup circuit, with a number of private bests for O’Brien, AJ Damage, and Paula Moltzan, who even had her first profession podium in Austria in November.

“I feel it’s actually cool and we’re fortunate to have Mikaela as our teammate for main the cost and provoking us all,” O’Brien mentioned. “Nevertheless it’s additionally enjoyable to see that this subsequent group of us can usher in some velocity as effectively.”

Whereas Shiffrin works together with her personal teaching employees, the staff trains collectively when schedules permit.

“It’s at all times tremendous productive and helpful coaching together with her, simply watching her and speaking together with her about snowboarding,” O’Brien mentioned. “She’s received a fairly insane understanding of the game, like nobody else I do know.”

Shiffrin’s assist went past shared coaching at a World Cup GS in Austria final season, when she was fastest in the first run and took the lift back up the hill to support late starter O’Brien.

Shiffrin briefly skilled the sensation of going head-to-head with a teammate for gold on the worlds two years in the past, when she and Lindsey Vonn aimed for the super-G victory.

Whereas Vonn crashed within the penultimate race of her profession, Shiffrin claimed the gold.

The rising energy of the tech staff pleases Shiffrin.

“They’ve simply an incredible angle, it’s a very nice environment now,” she mentioned. “It simply seems like we might be blissful for one another, push one another, and it’s easy. There is no such thing as a drama, it’s simply racing and snowboarding.”

Former teammate Sarah Schleper, who retired in 2011 however returned to the slopes and competes for Mexico on the worlds, hailed the affect of Shiffrin on the staff.

“The U.S. staff is again on monitor for achievement and I feel Mikaela has so much to do with it,” Schleper mentioned. “It conjures up all of our children again residence, which is nice. They simply see it’s a risk to make it right here and compete with the Europeans and be aggressive.”

Approaching her greatest profession end result, O’Brien overcame a scare in between runs when her skis initially failed the usual tools check by organizers.

The Worldwide Ski Federation checks ski dimension and setup after every run based mostly on strict guidelines. Racers whose skis don’t meet the standards are disqualified.

There was a problem with the plate within the binding on one in all O’Brien’s skis, which exceeded the allowed top by a mere 0.1 millimeters after a screw received unfastened.

Finally, O’Brien was cleared to begin within the closing run.

“That was a bit of little bit of drama,” she mentioned.

After going her complete profession with out a main championship title, Intestine-Behrami added a second gold medal to her burgeoning assortment from this 12 months’s worlds.

The Swiss skier made up her deficit to Shiffrin with a blistering closing leg to beat the American by two-hundredths of a second.

“GS has at all times been so necessary for me in my complete profession,” the Swiss skier mentioned. “I at all times knew that if I’m snowboarding effectively in GS then it’s straightforward to be quick even within the different disciplines.”

Katharina Liensberger of Austria was 0.09 behind in third in what was the closest end ever of a girls’s large slalom on the worlds.