Beijing Olympics: All eyes will be on Mikaela Shiffrin, unknown hill in China

After her first Winter Video games triumph as a youngster in 2014, Mikaela Shiffrin gushed about “dreaming of the subsequent Olympics (and) successful 5 gold medals” — which not solely didn’t occur, in fact, however wasn’t even doable as a result of the American ended up not competing in each Alpine occasion 4 years later.

Now a veteran of 26, and well-established because the world’s high all-around ski racer, Shiffrin goals to be within the beginning gate on the Beijing Olympics for the slalom, large slalom, super-G, downhill and mixed, together with possibly even the combined crew parallel, in line with her coach.

She is aware of, although, that simply coming into all the things will likely be a problem in itself, not to mention claiming a haul of medals so as to add to the 2 golds and one silver she has from previous Olympics, which go together with a half-dozen world championship golds and a trio of World Cup total titles.

“I’ve to do much more preparation, like, mentally — simply understanding how that’s going to have an effect on me mentally and bodily all through, basically, the three weeks that we’re there,” mentioned Shiffrin, the 2014 Olympic champion in slalom and 2018 champ in large slalom.

“So it positively takes loads of my focus to assume: What are the bins now we have to examine even completely exterior of, like, snowboarding and method and ways and the bodily facet of issues?” she mentioned. “What are the bins we have to examine to be sure that I’ve some consolation stage staying in a spot that I’ve by no means been earlier than for 3 weeks and coping with the jet lag and getting over that as quick as doable?”

Shiffrin, who’s from Vail, often talks about what it is going to take to keep away from feeling uncomfortable on, and even between, race days.

There’s a lot wrapped up in that space as she heads to her third Olympics, from the again spasms that restricted her preparation in November, to the bout with COVID-19 she skilled in late December, to her first “didn’t end” in a slalom in 4 years that got here in January, to the various stress elements she sounds relaxed discussing and dissecting.

“If we’re doing our jobs, we shouldn’t need to do something particular for her to really feel proper and for her to really feel comfy. All the things that we will management, we’re controlling, and attempting to remain forward of each little factor, whether or not it’s ensuring she’s not strolling up too many stairs, whether or not it’s ensuring there will not be too many steps in a day, ensuring there’s a diet choice that’s handy and useful or that she will be able to eat in her room if the eating room is simply too crowded. Or simply one other stressor,” mentioned Shiffrin’s coach, Mike Day. “In truth, you don’t wish to out of the blue get to the Olympics and alter what you’re doing, proper?”

There’s extra, too, that comes with any Winter Video games, in fact, however will likely be of explicit concern at these, together with a brand new and unseen course that no elite racer will strive till Feb. 3, simply three days earlier than the lads’s downhill begins the Alpine schedule.

There’s additionally the ever-present component of COVID-19 and the entire uncommon preparations and uncertainties that brings.

“It’s going to be a large number,” U.S. racer Travis Ganong mentioned, “however we’ll determine it out.”

Different story strains to comply with in Alpine snowboarding on the Beijing Olympics:

Shock!

Normally, take a look at occasions are held on an Olympic hill a yr or extra forward of time, giving ski racers an opportunity to take a look at the positioning and practice and compete on the course. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, these had been scrapped.

So all the things will likely be a little bit of a shock when coaches and athletes get their first have a look at the bogus snow on the slopes of the Nationwide Alpine Snowboarding Heart in Yanqing zone, about 55 miles northwest of Beijing’s metropolis heart.

“All people’s in the identical state of affairs. They need to adapt as rapidly as doable,” Worldwide Ski Federation race director Markus Waldner mentioned. “It’s a really difficult hill. Demanding.”

The favorites

If the informal fan is aware of present World Cup total chief Shiffrin’s identify the most effective — because of years of success and her prominence in TV adverts for these Olympics — anybody who follows ski racing intently is conscious of two outstanding challengers: Petra Vlhova, a 26-year-old from Slovakia, and Sofia Goggia, a 29-year-old from Italy.

Vlhova is the reigning total World Cup champion and gained 5 of this season’s first six slaloms, a race Shiffrin used to dominate; Goggia has gained seven consecutive downhills and will likely be favored to repeat her Olympic gold in that occasion.

Males to look at

Marco Odermatt, a 24-year-old from Switzerland, will head to his first Olympics as a possible star-in-the-making. A winner of 5 golds on the 2018 junior world championships, Odermatt leads the World Cup standings and has 5 victories plus three runner-up finishes this season.

Second within the total is 2019-20 champion Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, a 29-year-old from Norway who’s courting Shiffrin and snowboarding properly after coming back from a knee harm.

Bye, Lindsey and Ligety

The U.S. ski crew is now with out three-time Olympic medalist Lindsey Vonn and double gold medalist Ted Ligety, who joined Bode Miller, Alice McKennis and Julia Mancuso in retirement.

Shiffrin isn’t the one American price watching, although. Breezy Johnson, who turns 26 on Jan. 19 and is from Wyoming, has three second-place appearances behind Goggia in downhills this season. Bryce Bennett, a 29-year-old from California, gained a males’s downhill in Val Gardena, Italy, in December. And Ganong, a 33-year-old from California, produced a podium end in a super-G at Beaver Creek.

“There’s lots that may occur in China,” Johnson mentioned. “I simply wish to set myself as much as do the most effective that I can and attempt to execute on race day.”