"Wanted to help her!"
World champions have been friends for years
"We've been friends for years," revealed Mikaela Shiffrin before she competed with downhill world champion Breezy Johnson at the team combined in Saalbach - and the duo immediately claimed gold. Old photos were quickly found ...
"After she became downhill world champion, Breezy said that if I wanted to ski the team combined, it would be an honor for her if we formed a duo," Shiffrin wrote on social media. This would close a circle. The two have known each other since the age of eleven and were also roommates.
On Tuesday, the US duo took gold in the new team combination, and a photo from the Whistler Cup 15 years ago quickly made the rounds. Hearty!
Shiffrin has done everything right. After suffering an abdominal wound in the giant slalom in Killington in November and the necessary operation, the US-American prepared her comeback to the World Cup carefully. On January 30, she returned to the slalom in Courchevel in tenth place, at the World Championships in Saalbach she resisted the temptation to form the "181 World Cup win pairing" with Lindsey Vonn, chose downhill world champion Johnson and took team combined gold.
"That's insanely impressive
"It's insanely impressive that she's come back in two months. I wanted to help her because she deserved it after everything she's been through and everything she's done for me since I was a kid," said double world champion Johnson after the gold medal coup. "I wanted to help her start the World Championships with a gold medal."
She had invited Shiffrin to race with her. Although she had ruled out competing a few days ago, she accepted. But she decided not to take part in the giant slalom. Vonn was disgruntled, and a look at the results list proves Shiffrin right. "The media can be very hard on Mikaela. They expect her to win, and if she doesn't, then something is obviously wrong. I know how hard it is to win," said Johnson, who gave her friend and US team partner a good talking to.
Shiffrin didn't race for medals, but for fun
Everyone talks about medals, many say that the only thing that counts are medals, said Shiffrin to the media representatives in the finish area. "But at the end of the day, it's about how you behave and how you support each other. When I realized that the giant slalom wasn't possible at the moment and decided to do the team combination, Breezy told me: don't do it for the medal, just do it for the huge fun. That spurred me on."
Because in Courchevel, she said that she wanted to be here. "But I haven't felt that much in the past two weeks. I've found it quite horrifying. There is so much behind Breezy's personality and mentality. That explains why she's here today: relentless perseverance," said Shiffrin.
It was the 29-year-old's 15th medal at a World Championships and she now has eight gold, four silver and three bronze medals to her name. She will still be competing in the slalom on the Zwölferkogel on Saturday; she has already won four World Championship titles in this discipline. She has 99 successes in the World Cup.
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