Shiffrin doesn’t miss when medals are on line

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO – CORTINA D’If Mikaela Shiffrin have been a baseball participant, her numbers would make her a post-season MVP.

Yearly.

The American skier received 4 medals in her 4 occasions on the not too long ago concluded world championships and improved her profession file on the next-biggest occasion in snowboarding after the Olympics to 11 medals in 13 races.

Her Olympic file? Three medals in 5 occasions.

That’s a mixed 14 for 18 at main championships — worlds and Olympics.

To place these numbers in perspective, think about Lindsey Vonn’s profession outcomes at main championships. Whereas the retired Vonn stays essentially the most profitable feminine skier in World Cup historical past with a file 82 victories (the 25-year-old Shiffrin has 68 World Cup wins and counting), her haul of 11 medals in 39 races already pales compared to Shiffrin’s efficiency.

So how does Shiffrin do it? Properly, past her extraordinary snowboarding expertise and years and years of coaching, it’s all about her psychological strategy.

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Shiffrin, you see, has had the identical actual focus for medal races since her very first huge occasion — the 2013 worlds in Schladming, Austria. Or, to be extra exact, since midway by means of the slalom at these worlds, when she received the world title at age 17 for her first medal.

Shiffrin not too long ago thought again to that race, acknowledging that she was “freaking out” between runs.

After the primary leg, Shiffrin sat third behind Scandinavian veterans Frida Hansdotter and Tanja Poutiainen, and had Maria Höfl-Riesch and Tina Maze — two of the best skiers of their era — respiration down her neck in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

Shiffrin was listening to music on her headphones however having a troublesome time taming her nerves contained in the hospitality space when U.S. teammate Steven Nyman walked in and requested her mother and coach, Eileen, what the issue was.

“He stated, ‘Alright, alright, alright. Inform her to take her headphones off, we have now to have a dialogue,’” Shiffrin stated. “And we did. And he stated, ‘World championships there may be one objective. You’re not attempting to guard your lead within the general title or the season titles or something. You’re not defending something. You go for gold, that’s it. … You’ve gotten every part to achieve and nothing to lose. So go for it.’

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“And I used to be like, ‘Huh. That’s actually fascinating. OK,’” Shiffrin added. “And it didn’t, like, take away my nerves of whether or not I may ski sooner, make up the time distinction, or all these completely different items. But it surely received me psyched up simply to do my finest. And each world championships since then, whether or not I’m nervous or I’m feeling nice — it doesn’t matter — I’ve at all times remembered what Steven stated.”

Nyman, a 39-year-old downhiller who has received three World Cup downhills however by no means a medal at a worlds or Olympics, recalled how he “discovered it type of humorous that she was so nervous although she had already had a lot success.”

“However that’s what makes her distinctive,” Nyman stated through e-mail. “(Marcel) Hirscher had the identical angle. He by no means felt like he was so good he may cruise. He at all times performed thoughts video games with himself making him consider folks have been proper on his tail.”

Hirscher, the not too long ago retired Austrian who received a file eight straight general World Cup titles, additionally as soon as mentioned how he so constantly employed his go-for-broke technique.

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As Nyman steered, Hirscher imagined that he was at all times being chased.

“Should you’re standing in entrance of an enormous, huge, large wall, and you haven’t any alternative to climb up there, after which behind you, there are 100 loopy canine who wish to eat you up, then you must go to your life,” Hirscher said in 2013 when requested to elucidate his strategy.

It’s the identical attacking mentality that Shiffrin employed when she received gold in mixed, silver in big slalom and bronze in super-G and slalom during the last two weeks in Cortina.

The 4 medals matched the largest haul ever by a lady at worlds, with Marielle Goitschel (in 1966), Rosi Mittermaeier (1976), Hanni Wenzel (1980) and Anja Pärson (2007) additionally having received 4 medals in a single version.

Shiffrin’s achievement was all of the extra outstanding contemplating that she didn’t race for 10 months final yr following the sudden loss of life of her father, Jeff Shiffrin. Her comeback was then slowed by the coronavirus pandemic and a again harm.

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With out a lot coaching, Shiffrin had raced solely sparingly getting into the worlds.

“She doesn’t have the dominance this yr as years previous so it needed to be laborious for her discover that perception to win,” stated Nyman, who has identified Shiffrin since she was a baby. “She is dealing with new psychological arenas presently and it has been enjoyable to observe her navigate them.”

That’s as a result of, whether or not she has educated or not, Shiffrin is at all times the skier to beat — which makes her one of many largest medal threats for subsequent yr’s Beijing Olympics.

“I do know that I’ve the capabilities to ski actually quick. And if I do, I do know it has the potential to win,” Shiffrin stated. “But it surely simply boils down as to whether I do this properly sufficient, and actually what the opposite ladies do. And I can’t management what they do. So all I can actually do is go on the market and take a look at my finest and see what occurs.

“So in a method there’s much less stress at world champs than even World Cup races, since you’re not defending one thing. However on the identical time it’s an enormous occasion, it’s the one probability to go for gold.”

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Related Press author Eric Willemsen contributed to this report.

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Extra AP snowboarding: https://apnews.com/hub/snowboarding and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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Andrew Dampf is at https://twitter.com/AndrewDampf