Featured Image: Mikaela Shiffrin at a World Cup Ceremony for the Soldeu, Andorra World Cup slalom. Credit: GEPA pictures/ Harald

The World Cup opener in Sölden has arrived, which marks the start of another season for history to be made. Mikaela Shiffrin has 21 giant slalom World Cup wins, 88 World Cup victories and has broken records unprecedented in the sport. Her achievements are outstanding, but you know what is even more outstanding? Her eagerness to want more. 

Shiffrin’s motivation has been unwavering going into this season. Even though last winter she did not necessarily plan to break the overall record for most World Cups won by a racer, she was surprised that after her achievement, supporters worried about her losing motivation going into this next season. 

She explained, “If anything it (her accomplishments) makes me want to fight again this year and race for the Overall Globe again.”

Shiffrin is buckling in for the season-opener. In the past, she has shown her ability to achieve success on the Sölden hill. Previously, Mikaela has podiumed there six times and won it twice. However, this year she is taking a different approach to this first race. 

“My mentality for this year’s race is different than it has been. I’m not as worried about starting the season off as strong as I can be. I feel like it’s okay to build into my highest level of skiing throughout these first weeks of competition,” Shiffrin stated. 

That is not the only change Shiffrin spoke about heading into this season. She shared about recent illnesses that she has gone through and the adjustments made to her schedule, due to challenges she faced in previous years during this preparation block. But on a positive note, she spoke about her new coaching staff and different strength and conditioning regimens that have built up her confidence. 

A Different Early Season

In prior years, Shiffrin has found the preseason training block and the Sölden race to be challenging for her. She has been open about the mental struggles she has previously faced in the first race with bad weather conditions for training, intense jet lag and multiple media days.

Shiffrin explained, “I came over, went to this Atomic Media Day during my first couple days on snow. Then I don’t know if it just hit at the wrong time, hormonally, or coming over at that point with jet lag, or everything. But, I was stiff, my back was stiff, and I was tired. I just struggled with it a lot.”

Due to these challenges she did not feel up to the task in Sölden last year. “When the race was actually canceled, I was relieved last year to be perfectly honest,” Shiffrin recalled. 

Going into this season, understanding the struggles she had faced previously, she assessed a different way of doing the prep period and this race. Shiffrin and her team decided she needed to plan more time to ensure extended preparation before the race, so they came to Austria eight days earlier. “The media day itself ran a lot smoother for me. And training has gone a lot smoother. So I feel more prepared this year for this race than I did last year,” she explained. 

Although Shiffrin experienced some setbacks, such as illnesses related to food poisoning and viral symptoms in the off-season, she did not get off track from her strength and conditioning. She actually was stronger in her final physical test this year than she has been in a couple of years. Further, she has been doing quite a bit of running and trail running, which she has really enjoyed. 

Her Support System

Going into this season, the Shiffrin staff has seen a transition. Shiffrin brought on Karin Harjo as the new Head Coach. “We have built a team around us of powerhouse females and Mark Minter, who is also a powerhouse. We have an incredible team,” she stated. 

On top of complementing her previous coaching staff multiple times, she commended her coach’s new efforts: “Karin transitioned really quite seamlessly into the team, and she has exceptional communication skills, so it’s been as easy as a transition can be.”

Karin has worked to implement new data tracking ideas, especially on equipment. Shiffrin confirms the motivation Karin has given her to find different ways to track the skis and test various gear. 

She reflected on equipment testing: “We want to keep it a little more strict, wrap my head around it a little bit easier, and hopefully help Atomic as well with the R and D on the equipment side.” 

Shiffrin is excited and positive overall moving into this new season with the guidance of a solid support system from her new coaching staff. 
She is the first US skier (man or woman), to have won a race in each discipline of the World Cup, including downhill, super-G, slalom, giant slalom, combined and parallel. Looking forward, Shiffrin hopes to match or surpass the title for the most Overall Globe winnings, which is six. In 2023, the star clinched her fifth Overall World Cup Globe title. She will continue to pursue her goals this year and attack every finish line. It all begins at Sölden this weekend. Don’t miss the race streaming on Peacock!