Daily Times (Primos, PA)

Shiffrin set up as Olympics star; Vonn, Hirscher big, too

- By Howard Fendrich

If Mikaela Shiffrin continues to race as well as she has been, she is setting herself up to be the biggest star of the Pyeongchan­g Olympics. Not just of Alpine skiing, but the entire Winter Games.

To put it simply: She is about as close to unbeatable as can be right now.

Shiffrin, a 22-year-old American, won the first five women’s World Cup races she entered in 2018, and seven of her past eight on the circuit, competing against the best the world has to offer and outclassin­g them time and again. And Shiffrin is not merely winning — she is overwhelmi­ng opponents, sometimes collecting victories by more than 1.5 seconds, a large margin in a sport often decided by hundredths.

Born in Colorado and raised in New Hampshire and Vermont, Shiffrin was 18 at the 2014 Sochi Games when she became the youngest Olympic slalom champion in history. Her 41st career World Cup race win, which came in January, equaled the highest total for a ski racer under 23.

Now she heads to Pyeongchan­g as an overwhelmi­ng favorite to be the first to win consecutiv­e slalom golds. What’s more, she will be a contender to win the giant slalom and combined, too , for a chance to match the Alpine record of three titles at one Olympics.

It’s possible that she could enter the super-G and downhill, too, which would make her something never seen these days: a five-event threat.

Here are some other things to watch on the mountains in February:

VONN’S RETURN AND FAREWELL

Shiffrin’s U.S. teammate Lindsey Vonn was supposed to be the one to watch at the Sochi Olympics but never got the chance to defend her downhill gold medal from Vancouver in 2010 because of a knee injury. Back on the sport’s biggest stage for the last time at age 33, Vonn can add to her legacy as one of the all-time greatest ski racers (she owns a women’s record 78 World Cup wins) by earning one more medal in a speed event, downhill or super-G.

ELUSIVE GOLD

Marcel Hirscher is as dominant among the men as Shiffrin is among the women. The Austrian has won an unpreceden­ted six consecutiv­e overall World Cup ti tles and appears on his way to No. 7. As of midJanuary, he put together a fiveslalom winning streak. “He is just better. That’s the way it is,” said Henrik Kristoffer­sen, a Norwegian who perpetuall­y ends up in second place, behind Hirscher. But for everything he’s done, Hirscher has yet to win an Olympic gold medal, despite four top-five finishes in slalom or giant slalom at Sochi and Vancouver.

REMEMBER THESE NAMES

Some folks to keep an eye on who could spring a surprise include Petra Vlhova of Slovakia, the last person to beat Shiffrin in a slalom race before the American’s lengthy winning streak; Sofia Goggia of Italy, who will be making her Olympic debut but won two World Cup races on the mountain in South Korea in March 2017; Michael Matt of Austria, whose older brother Mario defeated Hirscher for the gold in slalom four years ago; Andrew Weibrecht of the U.S. (nickname: War Horse), who came out of nowhere to pick up medals in 2010 and 2014 and maybe — just maybe — could do it again.

BYE, BODE

After a U.S.-record six Alpine medals (one gold, three silvers, two bronzes) across five Winter Games appearance­s, and one infamous boast about partying “at an Olympic level” at the 2006 Turin Games, Bode Miller will not be on the slopes in Pyeongchan­g. He will, however, be offering his thoughts on TV, which should be insightful and entertaini­ng. Other familiar faces who’ll be absent: Tina Maze, a Slovenian who won two golds four years ago; Maria Hoefl-Riesch, a German medal who collected three golds and one silver at the past two Olympics; and Ivica Kostelic, a Croatian with four Olympic silvers.

 ?? MARCO TROVATI — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE ?? Mikaela Shiffrin, of the U.S., celebrates her gold medal in the women’s slalom at the alpine skiing World Championsh­ips in St. Moritz, Switzerlan­d. Shiffrin continues to race as well as she has been, she is setting herself up to be the biggest start of...
MARCO TROVATI — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Mikaela Shiffrin, of the U.S., celebrates her gold medal in the women’s slalom at the alpine skiing World Championsh­ips in St. Moritz, Switzerlan­d. Shiffrin continues to race as well as she has been, she is setting herself up to be the biggest start of...

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