Shiffrin nearing overall ski title at home in World Cup
Mikaela Shiffrin has 178-point lead over Ilka Stuhec of Slovenia with six races remaining
With every race, Mikaela Shiffrin draws closer to a couple of things she just can’t stop thinking about: An over all World Cup title. That much needed vacation in Maui.
No time to imagine the beach, though. Still too much work left to do on snow.
The Olympic slalom champion has a 178-point lead over Ilka Stuhec of Slovenia with six races remaining — all on U.S. slopes. There are two events this week at Squaw Valley in California, before the season concludes next week with the World Cup Finals in Aspen, Colorado.
For most of the season, Shiffrin refused to give her chances at an overall crown much thought.
Lately, the skier from EagleVail embraces the possibility.
“I was worried people would think I am too ambitious, or the overall is too lofty of a goal for me. But obviously it is a very reasonable goal,” Shiffrin wrote in an email to The Associated Press. “I’m not worried what other people think about it anymore.”
This week, she and her fellow racers tackle the Red Dog course at Squaw Valley, which hosts a World Cup event for the first time since 1969. She’s quite familiar with the hill, too, having won a giant slalom title at the 2014 U.S. champion-
ships. There’s a GS race Friday, followed a day later by the slalom— her specialty.
Then, it’s off to Aspen for the season finale.
No extra nerves, Shiffrin said, even if it’s close to her hometown. She’s trying to join Phil Mahre, Tamara McKinney, Bode Miller and Lindsey Vonn as the only Americans to win the overall crown.
“I hope I am able to free my mind and just race, rather than feeling pressure,” Shiffrin said in the email.
When closest rival Lara Gut of Switzerland tore her ACL in February, the overall title appeared inevitable for Shiffrin. But Stuhec has caught fire to close the gap. The remaining schedule favors Shiffrin, though, with four of the six remaining events either slalom or giant slalom. Stuhec has one top-10 World Cup finish this season in the two disciplines, while Shiffrin has 13.
“By the time I get to World Cup Finals, I’m just going to be riding the wave of this winter, excited to be finishing the season in my home country and home state, and happy to share the last racing moments of this season with U.S. fans,” said Shiffrin , who turns 22 on Monday.
As tempting as it may be, Shiffrin resists looking back on a season full of accomplishments, including a 3-for- 3 performance during the technical races in Semmering, Austria, and winning her first career World Cup Alpine combined in CransMontana, Switzerland.