The Recorder – Seeking speed: Shiffrin eyes return to super-G training

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 GS.

Which 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 pace occasions, with the Feb. 9-21 world championships in Italy approaching.

Shiffrin received a file fourth straight slalom title, but in addition a super-G gold on the worlds in Sweden two years in the past.

A winner in all six Alpine disciplines, Shiffrin determined to concentrate on 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 pace coaching, but,” stated 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 is perhaps an opportunity to get one or two classes on super-G skies earlier than (the Jan. 26 big slalom in) Kronplatz,” she stated. “That may be ultimate — that’s the plan.”

Choosing up super-G coaching once more within the third week of January may allow Shiffrin to compete within the pace 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 however it’s not a certainty proper now,” Shiffrin stated. “It actually depends upon what sort of coaching I can get beforehand. I in all probability don’t want loads of coaching however I would like some and it must be good and productive.”

Nonetheless, the quantity and high quality of her pace coaching shouldn’t be the one side Shiffrin can 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 workforce 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 of bit,” she stated.

Nonetheless, she received’t begin in a pace 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 now have properly greater than 4 women who’re all in a position to carry out very well. And that’s all the things to them. So, I’m tremendous conscious of that.”