Shiffrin parts with coach
Split comes as skier chases World Cup overall wins mark
MERIBEL, France — American skiing standout Mikaela Shiffrin had an unexpected split with her longtime coach, Mike Day, during the middle of the world championships after informing him that she planned to take a new direction with her staff at the end of the season.
“Mikaela wants to do something different going forward. She wants a new challenge. And she informed Mike and Mike decided to go home,” U.S. Alpine director Patrick Riml told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “It’s a shock for me that he took off.”
Day was with Shiffrin when she won the silver medal in super- G last week and then accompanied the skier for a few days of offsite training in Orcieres before returning to Meribel with her this week.
“He left yesterday,” Riml said. “He’s on the plane probably now.”
Shiffrin was due to race again in her favored events of giant slalom on Thursday and slalom on Saturday.
“After working with Mike Day for seven seasons, I’ve decided to move forward with new leadership on my team for the next phase of my career,” Shiffrin said in a statement released by the U.S. ski team. “I want to thank Mike and acknowledge all of his work and dedication over the last several years.”
Day led Shiffrin’s individual team within the U.S. squad. Her team is also led by her mother, Eileen, who has coached the skier her entire life. Shiffrin’s personal team also includes new assistant coach Mark Mitter, who remains with her, Riml said.
Paul Kristofic is the head coach of the overall U.S. women’s team.
“We’ve got plenty of people here to support Mikaela and provide the training and the information she needs on race day to do her job,” Riml said. “She’s got great support . ... We’ll decide together what makes the most sense moving forward.”
Day did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the AP.
Shiffrin is also in the middle of a record-breaking season on the World Cup circuit, having eclipsed Lindsey Vonn’s record of 82 World Cup wins among women.
She has also moved within one victory of Ingemar Stenmark’s overall mark of 86 wins.
Day worked with Shiffrin for 65 of her 85 World Cup wins, having coached her since July 2016.
It’s not the first time Shiffrin has parted ways with one of her coaches midseason. Last year, assistant coach Jeff Lackie was removed from her team shortly before the Beijing Olympics.
Alpine skiing: Norwegian skiers collected three of the six medals in the individual parallel events at the Alpine skiing world championships on Wednesday. Maria Therese Tviberg of Norway and Alexander Schmid of Germany won gold in the women’s and men’s races, respectively. Tviberg beat Wendy Holdener of Switzerland in the women’s final and Schmid beat Dominik Raschner of Austria in the men’s final. Norwegians earned bronze in both events, with Thea Louise Stjernesund finishing third in the women’s event and Timon Haugan in the men’s event.
Note: Three-time Olympic crosscountry skiing medalist Jessie Diggins can’t wait to show off Minnesota to her competitors. To the world, too. U.S. Ski & Snowboard announced Wednesday that Diggins’ home state of Minnesota will host a World Cup cross country ski event next February, giving the Americans a rare home-course advantage. This marks the first World Cup event the U.S. has hosted in the sport since 2001. The races will be held at Wirth Park in Minneapolis. “This will be huge,” Diggins said of bringing the sport that’s European-event heavy to the U.S.