"Mental blows"

Ski star Shiffrin: “It’s a strange feeling”

Gold for the USA: Mikaela Shiffrin (left) and Breezy Johnson.

(Bild: Pail Sepp/Sepp Pail)

With her 15th World Championship medal, ski queen Mikaela Shiffrin equaled another record. Since Schladming 2013, she has won gold at least once at every World Championships. However, the 29-year-old has not been preoccupied with the record so far, as she admitted in an interview. She is much more concerned with mental hurdles.

"If it had just been me skiing, it wouldn't have been enough." On Tuesday evening at the Home of Snow in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Mikaela Shiffrin once again thanked her childhood friend Breezy Johnson, with whom she took gold in the new team combination. This was also the 15th World Championship medal (including eight titles) in the 18th race for the US American. The 29-year-old also set a historic record. Previously, only Christl Cranz, the exceptional German skier of the 1930s, had won 15 medals at World Ski Championships. 

The 29-year-old gave her teammate Johnson a big hug at the finish.

(Bild: Pail Sepp/Sepp Pail)

"... didn't feel up to it"
However, Shiffrin didn't really dwell on it, as she explained in an interview with Eurosport. "The record was already talked about in Méribel, so I knew about it. But I couldn't give it a second thought here because I didn't feel in a position to compete for the medals," said the 99-time World Cup winner, who has won gold at least once at every World Championships since 2013 in Schladming. 

The after-effects of the fall at the end of November, in which Shiffrin suffered a deep wound to her stomach, weigh too heavily. "I'm still recovering from my injuries, it's a strange feeling - everyone else is here to win medals and I don't even know if I'm good enough to be here. That's why I can't say anything about this record at the moment." 

Not enough time for giant slalom
She also commented on the giant slalom being canceled. The 29-year-old said that she lacked the time on snow and the opportunity to train on different courses and conditions in order to get up to racing speed. "There is also the mental component of dealing with this speed. I still have problems when we train in race conditions, i.e. on harder snow."

Shiffrin continues: "I don't even know that I'm scared, but I can't do the movements to make a fast giant slalom turn. At the end of training I'm crying and I don't even know why. These are just mental blows, so I have to keep pushing myself step by step. It will come back, but you can't force it." 

Shiffrin will not be seen again until Saturday, in the women's slalom on the Zwölferkogel. However, the run as part of the team combined was a great test, as the slope is very challenging. "It's steep almost the whole time and there's a traverse that caught some racers off guard," said the 62-time slalom winner, who spoke of a "perfect World Cup course." A slope that could set the stage for Shiffrin's next record.