Alpine Skiingwomen's world cup
2020 Getty Images
Ski Racing asked the American champion, working on the snow of Mount Hood. Between the reduced staff and the inability to travel, Mikaela is looking for normality.
Friday 24 July 2020 4 minutes reading time
In a year everything changed for Mikaela Shiffrin, from the breakup of last summer with her boyfriend Mathieu Faivre to the double, tragic mourning of the winter with the disappearance of the grandmother and the dramatic one of dad Jeff, due to the domestic accident of the last February which actually led her to skip the rest of the season.
Then came Covid-19 and the daily life of the dominatrix of the white circus was turned upside down as for everyone; the moment of restart had already arrived in June, with the first real work on skis in Copper Mountain, while now Mikaela is training in Mount Hood together with some teammates, always in exceptional conditions.
The situation in the United States is known in terms of a pandemic and the three-time winner of the World Cup is spending firsthand to find the solutions that can allow you, your staff and the USA Team to obtain those permits dedicated to sportsmen to carry out international flights and all the movements necessary to work. An example: since last July 15, Shiffrin has been in Oregon for this fundamental camp and had to carry out a new quarantine of a few days, having arrived from his Colorado, before returning to the snow without much of his staff.
The trusted skiman, Johann Strobl, cannot fly from Austria, the trainer himself Jeff Lackie is stuck in Canada, so with his head coach Mike Day he managed to get a couple of support technicians from the US federation to be able to train in good condition. Speaking to "Ski Racing", Mikaela said she was not too worried about the less chance she has of working on the track than many of her opponents, having always focused more on quality than quantity. At the same time, the pressure may be less not expecting to be at the top starting from Soelden, provided that the situation remains this and waiting to understand if you, like all North American skiers, will at least be able to prepare on the European glaciers starting from 'Autumn. "It will be more of a mental challenge - the words of the 25 year old from Eagle - also and above all for what is happening around us, especially in the United States".
In Mount Hood, she feels practically at home and, as often happens in a thousand contexts, the memory goes back to dad Jeff: “It is a special place for our family, we feel the presence of dad having come here many times. He and mom would windsurf on Columbia Gorge (Columbia Gorge, not far from the resort)
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