Shiffrin passes on Lenzerheide speed events

Last weekend in Jasna, Slovakia, Mikaela Shiffrin had mixed results – a win in slalom (no surprise there) and a 14th-place finish in GS.

“It’s kind of an assessment of my GS skiing in that I haven’t had a lot of time on the skis and I don’t feel comfortable with my timing at all,” she said after Monday’s race. “I just don’t feel comfortable getting them out from under me and trusting them to come back.”

At the time, she intended to head back to western Europe to grab some super G training before the races at Lenzerheide, Switzerland, which kick off today.

“I’m going to try and get some super G training in,” she mentioned after the GS race. “Probably try to do some GS or slalom as well. And I think that super G can be really helpful with GS skiing. It kind of helps with the timing because when you get in a GS course you’re used to the speed. You just have to quicken up the pace.”

But plans change. The American will not be starting in Lenzerheide, instead opting for more training days in giant slalom before World Cup finals.

“We had a debrief after the race in Jasna and felt like it was really important focus on getting her GS up to speed, so she finishes the season strong in giant slalom,” said U.S. Ski Team Head Women’s Coach Paul “PK” Kristofic. “Make sure the ranking is there for next year as well. That’s pretty important for us and to do that we needed some time – some training time to do that.”

He continued to explain that decision was about making the most out of what’s left in the season, which includes attending U.S. National Championships in Sun Valley, Idaho.

“The plan is for her to be there,” Kristofic said, specifically about the technical races at the end of March.

Before then, she will be competing in St. Moritz, Switzerland, at World Cup finals where she is expected to race in the slalom and giant slalom and could also start in the speed races if she chooses to do so.

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