MERIBEL, France — Mikaela Shiffrin covered her mouth with fluorescent orange gloves and collapsed in the snow, still panting as her body shook with the exertion of her gold medal run.
What a relief after a busy week for the American skier.
Having endured a small outcry directed at her by environmentalists who mistakenly believed she was using a helicopter for training, Shiffrin’s team was plunged into turmoil two days before the match. giants at the world championships when her longtime coach, Mike Day, abruptly left after Shiffrin told him she wanted to change her staff at the end of the season.
“These days are definitely high stress levels,” says Shiffrin. “It’s very, very difficult today to stay focused and maintain the right intensity level.”
Day has coached Shiffrin since 2016 and has been with her 65 of the 85 times she won the World Cup. Shiffrin needs just one more win to match Ingemar Stenmark’s record of 86 overall wins, having broken the women’s record of 82 wins held by Lindsey Vonn.
Although wins at worlds don’t count towards World Cup totals, it was the last thing on Shiffrin’s mind on Thursday.
“One thing I really want to say is ‘Thank you’ to Mike for seven years – I can’t even say he’s helped me – he’s been an integral part of my team and has always been there to support. I’ve been through some of the most incredible moments of my career and some of the most challenging moments of my career and my life,” Shiffrin said, her voice cracking with emotion.
Shiffrin won two medals in a row after winning silver in the super G class, ending an unfortunate streak in major championship races. She failed to finish three of her five individual races at last year’s Beijing Olympics and didn’t win a medal despite great expectations, then she also didn’t finish the first race. her in these worlds, as she passed three doors from the finish of the race. gather to throw away what is certain to be gold.
No one on Shiffrin’s personal team, led by her mother, Eileen, who also trains her, expected Day to react the way he did.
“Just a little bit sad why it went down,” Shiffrin said, adding that she hopes to give Day “time and notice” to work out his own plans before the season ends. but he decided to leave immediately. “it’s hard for all of us to imagine” after “being such a tight-knit group, really a family.”
Federica Brignone and Ragnhild Mowinckel ran to congratulate Shiffrin while she was still lying in the snow and jumped on top of her.
Brignone finished 0.12 seconds behind Shiffrin to take the silver, plus the Italian combined gold, and Norway’s Mwinckel finished in 0.22 seconds to take the bronze.
French skier Tessa Worley, who finished second after the opening run, skated inside and fell on the second run.
“I don’t want to win a medal, I want to win,” said Worley, a two-time giant slalom world champion who has the added pressure of skiing in front of home fans.
Brignone spent four days in bed with a fever before this race and is mourning her former teammate Elena Fanchini, who died last week from a tumor aged 37.
“It was also an emotional time for us,” Brignone said.
Shiffrin won the giant slalom title at the 2018 Olympics, but it was her first world title in the event, making her the fourth female skier to win the world title in four, after having previously won four gold medals in slalom, one in super-G and combined gold two years ago.
The win brought Shiffrin’s total to seven world titles and 13 medals overall from 16 career world championship races. She comes in second behind German skier Christl Cranz in the career list with the most individual medals won by a woman at world events. Cranz won 15 medals during the 1930s.
“The coach is important, but Shiffrin is still Shiffrin,” said super-G champion Marta Bassino, who finished fifth. “She is not dependent [only] ABOVE [Day]. Let’s not take anything away from him or the other coaches, with all due respect, but look at her.”
Nina O’Brien had the second-fastest time in the final run and improved from 21st to 11th, while American teammate Paula Moltzan turned and slid the gate midway through the first run and not on target. Moltzan broke his arm during Tuesday’s team event, which the US team won. Shiffrin did not compete in that event.
Moltzan, who glued gloves to the ski pole while running, said: “The hand feels as good as it feels, so I’m not disappointed with that. “I think I just misjudged my turn a little bit and got in a little bit and couldn’t recover.”
The men’s giant slalom is scheduled for Friday, then Shiffrin’s last race at the worlds — slalom, her best event — is on Saturday.
