Ski racer Mikaela Shiffrin eyes 5-event Olympics after 3 last time

First things archetypal for Mikaela Shiffrin: She is definite she wants to enactment successful each idiosyncratic women’s Alpine skis contention astatine the Beijing Olympics.

The 26-year-old from Colorado besides knows that was her purpose for the past Winter Games — and things did not rather enactment retired according to program backmost then.

So arsenic Shiffrin gears up for the commencement of the World Cup play this month, past looks further down the roadworthy toward the travel to Asia successful February, she is examining assorted ways successful which she tin bushed her champion for both. That means however she performs portion connected her skis, speeding down the broadside of a mountain, of course, arsenic good arsenic areas she tin enactment connected portion distant from the slopes.

“Something I’m dreaming astir close present is to beryllium capable to vie successful each lawsuit successful China. But that means I person to bash a batch much preparation, mentally,” Shiffrin said from Austria connected Friday, during a video league with reporters. “Just knowing however that is going to impact maine mentally and physically throughout, essentially, the 3 weeks that we’re there.

“So it decidedly takes a batch of my absorption to think: What are the boxes we person to check, adjacent wholly extracurricular of skiing and method and tactics and the carnal broadside of things? What are the boxes we request to cheque to marque definite that I person immoderate comfortableness level staying successful a spot that I’ve ne'er been earlier for 3 weeks and dealing with the pitchy lag and getting implicit that arsenic accelerated arsenic possible?”

Shiffrin owns 3 Olympic medals, 2 golds. She besides has won 69 World Cup races — lone Ingemar Stenmark, with 86, and Lindsey Vonn, 82, person much successful the sport’s past — on with a trio of wide titles.

While cautious to enactment immoderate caveats, including that she needs to skis good capable to gain a spot connected the U.S. squad for the 5 idiosyncratic women’s Alpine events successful Beijing, Shiffrin would emotion to beryllium successful the starting gross each time; elephantine slalom Feb. 7, slalom Feb. 9, super-G Feb. 11, downhill Feb. 15 and combined Feb. 17.

Then again, that was the thought astatine the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, too, earlier weather-related rescheduling contributed to Shiffrin participating successful 3 races. She near South Korea with a golden successful elephantine slalom, metallic successful combined and a fourth-place decorativeness successful slalom.

“I decidedly walked distant with eyes wide unfastened aft that,” Shiffrin said Friday.

“There’s a full container of things that we tin unpack with just, benignant of, Olympic preparations and however how overmuch I bash attraction astir putting successful my champion effort to marque each events happen? But besides knowing that truthful galore things tin change, not lone betwixt present and then, but conscionable betwixt the commencement of the archetypal Olympic contention to the extremity of the Games, that that program could very, precise easy alteration astatine the driblet of a hat. So there’s that broadside of things,” she said. “And obviously, you spell to the Olympics and anticipation for medals. That’s the dream. … But past you person the World Cup season.”

Yes, she is not ignoring that.

When the calendar opens Oct. 23 successful Sölden, Austria, Shiffrin volition marque it a constituent to unrecorded up to what she called “another large dream” — contending for the wide trophy again.

That wasn’t a anticipation past season, erstwhile she avoided velocity races until the satellite championships aft returning from a 10-month hiatus brought astir by the decease of her father, the coronavirus pandemic and an injured back.

“There is ne'er going to beryllium a warrant that I tin triumph it again, and it’s … truly hard to accidental if that’s adjacent a realistic extremity for this play — oregon ever again successful my career,” Shiffrin said. “But I’m trying to enactment successful the enactment to marque that a possibility.”