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Mikaela Shiffrin races within the U.S. for the one time this season this weekend, within the highlight at a World Cup cease in Killington, Vermont (broadcast schedule here).
All slopes result in Beijing in February. Shiffrin, a gold medalist in 2014 and 2018, has repeated in interviews that she desires to enter all 5 particular person occasions at her third Olympics: downhill, super-G, big slalom, slalom and mixed.
“A really aggressive sport plan,” she stated earlier this month. “I don’t know if that’s going to work.”
The plan was the identical in 2018. It didn’t work due to climate, proof that any technique in Alpine snowboarding is written in pencil.
Excessive winds postponed the beginning of Olympic competitors by three days in South Korea and compressed the schedule. The enormous slalom, slalom and super-G had been speculated to happen over a six-day span, however as an alternative had been on back-to-back-to-back days.
Shiffrin, drained from successful the GS and its post-race commitments after which putting fourth within the slalom the following day, skipped the super-G after which the downhill earlier than taking silver within the mixed.
“It wouldn’t have been protected to race,” the super-G and downhill given her exhausted state, she stated.
Contemplate this historical past as Shiffrin takes one other run-up to the Olympics with 5 occasions in thoughts: No skier who entered all 5 at one Olympics received greater than three medals whole or greater than two golds, in line with Olympedia.org. Croatian Janica Kostelić received three golds and a silver in 2002, racing 4 occasions (arguably extra spectacular than doing it in 5, however nonetheless completely different).
Alpine snowboarding just isn’t swimming, gymnastics or monitor and discipline, the place Olympic icons like Michael Phelps, Simone Biles and Carl Lewis devoured medals (and had been anticipated to). The 12 Winter Olympians with essentially the most medals come from biathlon, cross-country snowboarding and velocity skating. No Alpine skiers are in that group.
“There actually are a handful of individuals that may win in all disciplines in a single yr, and that’s over the historical past of the game, not simply the final decade,” NBC Sports activities analyst Steve Porino stated.
Shiffrin took the standard path to changing into an all-around skier, beginning with slalom and big slalom, then cautiously dipping into the riskier super-G and downhill. These will likely be her third Olympics. Bode Miller and Lindsey Vonn entered 5 occasions on the Olympics for the primary time of their third Video games, too.
Taking over a full load is extra the exception in today of elevated specialization. Smaller nations are producing expertise in slalom and big slalom. Any time Shiffrin spends racing velocity occasions (or coaching them) is time taken away from staying sharp in her prioritized technical occasions.
PyeongChang marked the primary Olympics that zero outstanding male or feminine skiers raced all 5 occasions because the super-G was added to this system in 1988.
“It’s tougher to do at this time than it’s ever been,” Porino stated of being an all-around skier. “While you’re dealing with the those that do have the chance to coach to their coronary heart’s content material [in one or two disciplines], that makes the job all of the tougher.”
The three most up-to-date ladies to race all 5 particular person occasions at one Olympics, and are available away with medals, mirrored on the forms of challenges that would await Shiffrin in Beijing.
Maria Höfl-Riesch: Two golds managing situations
German Maria Höfl-Riesch, a four-time Olympic medalist who retired in 2014, was the uncommon all-around skier whose greatest occasions had been the extremes of downhill and slalom.
On the season-long World Cup, most weekends with a downhill additionally embrace a super-G. And most weekends with a slalom additionally embrace a large slalom. So it made sense to race every part, even when big slalom was a weak spot.
“I by no means considered skipping occasions,” she stated. “After all, for giant occasions [Olympics or world championships], it could possibly make sense. However you by no means know. I knew I may do [well] if there’s the precise day and if I’ve somewhat little bit of luck on my aspect. It by no means occurred in GS, nevertheless it may have occurred. I all the time had an opportunity.”
Höfl-Riesch rolled into the 2010 Vancouver Video games ranked second on this planet within the downhill, the primary occasion on the Olympics, and first within the slalom, the final occasion.
She positioned eighth within the Olympic downhill after the 2 ladies in entrance of her crashed, extending her wait within the begin home a number of minutes (once more, variables in ski racing).
Höfl-Riesch then received the mixed (one run downhill plus one run slalom). Gold medals carry additional time commitments, corresponding to media, however she noticed it as a optimistic for the remainder of her program. Significantly the slalom, which wasn’t for one more 9 days.
“When you win a medal, every part goes simpler,” she stated. “The large stress was gone, and I used to be rather more relaxed.”
The slalom carried two important challenges. Höfl-Riesch remembered it rained a lot of the week main as much as the occasion, however her coach insisted she practice via the horrible situations.
Then there was Austrian Marlies Schild, Höfl-Riesch’s main slalom rival who didn’t race anything at these Video games.
“I used to be somewhat bit drained from all of the season already and likewise from the Olympics,” Höfl-Riesch stated. “However, the massive stress was on her as a result of she was solely concentrating on the slalom. It was her solely and largest likelihood. And so I believe it was even a psychological benefit for me that I already had the [combined] gold medal in my pocket. When you will have that, robotically extra vitality.”
Within the fog and snow that she educated for, Höfl-Riesch beat Schild to grow to be the second girl to win two gold medals whereas snowboarding 5 occasions at an Olympics.
Höfl-Riesch stated that earlier than her retirement in 2014 (after sickness restricted her to 4 occasions on the Sochi Olympics), Shiffrin’s staff spoke together with her German coach about how Höfl-Riesch logistically made it work racing a full schedule.
Lindsey Vonn: Objective was one gold medal
Vonn additionally raced all 5 occasions on the 2010 Olympics, however her purpose was singular: one gold medal. She acquired it in her greatest occasion, the opening downhill, after a attempting buildup.
Vonn went greater than per week with out snowboarding main into the Video games as a consequence of a deep proper shin bruise. Poor climate delayed the beginning of competitors by three days and altered the downhill course for coaching runs.
“So there was actually no prep,” stated Vonn, who nonetheless benefited from the valuable additional time to heal and received gold by the most important margin in 16 years.
Within the subsequent races, Vonn was quickest within the downhill portion of the mixed however hooked a tip within the slalom run (she failed to complete her three World Cup slaloms main into the Video games).
Then within the super-G, she earned a satisfying bronze medal — after 5 of the primary 11 starters crashed or skied off target — whereas lamenting not risking extra late in her run.
Vonn had two medals, together with her purpose of 1 gold, in her three greatest occasions. She by no means thought of skipping both of the final two races, big slalom or slalom, regardless of not being a medal favourite.
Vonn was quickest in a foggy first run of the GS earlier than crashing about 20 seconds from the end line. She straddled a gate within the opening slalom run two days later.
“I simply have a unique strategy, I believe, possibly than others,” stated Vonn, who on the 2006 Olympics skied 4 occasions after a nasty downhill training crash. “I all the time thought I used to be a contender, in any race that I entered.”
Vonn’s mindset: In case you enter extra races, you will have extra probabilities. Even when meant, for Vonn, that 90 % of the time she didn’t get enough observe.
“The stress is typically much less,” she stated. “Since you all the time know, after the primary race, you will have 4 extra.”
Tina Maze’s recommendation that Mikaela Shiffrin received’t overlook
In 2013, Tina Maze had arguably the best season in Alpine snowboarding historical past. She raced in all 35 World Cup occasions, plus all 5 world championships occasions (one gold, two silvers) and amassed 2,414 World Cup factors, shattering the single-season file.
On the finish, Maze confided in Shiffrin, who had simply turned 18, received her first world slalom title and had not but examined herself in velocity occasions.
“Don’t do each [World Cup] occasion. It’s so exhausting,” Shiffrin stated Maze instructed her, recalling the dialog in 2017. On the time, Shiffrin had a purpose to get to some extent the place she may race every part. She got here closest in 2018-19, beginning 26 of 35 World Cups and successful a file 17 instances. Shiffrin stays selective on downhills and super-Gs on the five-month-long World Cup, heeding Maze’s recommendation.
Maze, a late bloomer from the small nation of Slovenia, raced in all 5 occasions at each Olympics and world championships from 2010 via 2015. She received a number of medals every time and not less than one gold in 4 of the 5 main championships.
“I didn’t wish to miss any race, as a result of each race, I noticed a chance to be taught and to enhance,” stated the retired Maze, who most well-liked racing to working towards greater than the methodical Shiffrin.
Maze stated that competing and coaching in each self-discipline left little time for changes, corresponding to attempting out new tools to adapt to the climate or course.
That performed a task in her first occasion of the 2014 Olympics, the tremendous mixed. Maze didn’t have the precise boots for the warmer-than-expected situations and ended up fourth, one tenth of a second off the rostrum.
The following race was the downhill. The evening earlier than, Maze visualized her run, crossing the end line for victory. She cried. Slovenia by no means had a Winter Olympic champion, and after the mixed miss, this was going to be her greatest shot.
“The stress in Olympic Video games, dealing with it and being a favourite, it’s not straightforward to deal with all of these expectations that you’ve and that everyone else round you has,” stated Maze, who struggled within the season main as much as Sochi, altering coaches twice. “Even I used to be watching this yr’s Olympics and seeing [Simone] Biles, how she’s struggled there being so good in any other case, as an athlete, as a performer.”
Maze’s visualization proved prophetic. She tied for downhill gold with Swiss Dominique Gisin, then received the GS outright six days later.
Mikaela Shiffrin’s Olympic flip
Shiffrin’s racing schedule will likely be talked about a lot the following two-plus months. It additionally got here underneath scrutiny at each world championships on this Olympic cycle.
In 2019, in the course of her unimaginable 17-win World Cup season, she selected to not race the downhill nor the mixed at worlds after successful the super-G in Åre, Sweden. She as an alternative spent the time getting ready for the GS (she earned bronze) and slalom (gold).
Her two golds and one bronze in three occasions at 2019 Worlds marked a greater medal haul than any skier has introduced dwelling from doing all 5 occasions at an Olympics.
“My purpose is to be a real contender each time I step into the beginning, and to have the form of longevity in my profession that can permit me to look again when all is claimed and finished and say that – for a overwhelming majority of the length of my profession – I used to be in a position to compete and combat for that prime step moderately than being sidelined by getting burnt out or injured from pushing past my capability,” she posted on Instagram, explaining her resolution. “It’s clear to me that many consider I’m approaching my profession in a approach that no one has earlier than, and folks don’t actually perceive it. However you recognize what?! That’s utterly fantastic by me, as a result of I’m ME, and nobody else.”
In 2021, Shiffrin entered worlds having simply gone a full yr between placing on longer skis for coaching velocity occasions. She selected to enter the super-G and the mixed anyway, on about 4 days of super-G observe. The outcome: a bronze within the super-G (on monitor for gold earlier than a late mistake) and gold within the mixed (with a super-G run moderately than downhill) by the most important margin underneath the present format since 2007.
She additionally earned big slalom silver and slalom bronze, that means she has completed fourth or higher in her final 13 Olympic or world champs begins, with medals in 12 of them.
“Podium in each occasion that I skied on the world championships goes to lift the expectations for the Olympics,” she acknowledged earlier than this season.
Nevertheless it doesn’t change the unpredictability of ski racing, evidenced by the obstacles confronted by the all-around skiers who got here earlier than her.
Shiffrin, who already had early season coaching curtailed by a again damage, known as the Olympics “funky,” for lack of a greater phrase, due to the variability. These Olympics specifically, given no one could have raced on the venue earlier than the Video games start.
“I can to attempt to chill out somewhat bit in regards to the plan and attempt to be optimistic,” Shiffrin stated, “and likewise, when the time comes. we’ll should be real looking as properly.”
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As Mikaela Shiffrin sizes up Olympic schedule, history shows potential obstacles initially appeared on NBCSports.com
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