Bad weather brought good news for American skiing superstar Mikaela Shiffrin.
Heavy snows in Rosa Khutor (RUS) – site of the 2014 Olympic Winter competitions in Sochi – meant that the Downhill and rescheduled Super-G from St. Anton (AUT) were cancelled and will not be made up.
So, as Shiffrin has a 1,794-1,075 lead over Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova and only seven races remain, she can’t be caught and has clinched her third straight overall Crystal Globe. She reflected on the achievement in an Instagram video from her hotel room in Italy. Highlights:
“Because of the cancellations in Sochi, because Petra Vlhova is not there, I have secured the overall Globe, which is a strange thing. It’s quite strange because I am sitting here, on my bed, not racing and that’s kind of the weirdness of the overall standings, is that oftentimes the points are so close that it comes down to the final race to decide who wins it, but it’s also very often that the leader in the overall standings has enough points that it’s decided before the final races of the season, because of something like today – races are cancelled, certain people are not at those races, so the points get all wound up in different ways, and then, all of a sudden it’s … there you have it.
“It’s strange, because I feel like right here, right now, I didn’t do something this morning that – oh, like, ‘here you go.’ You know, you woke up today, here’s an overall Globe. But at the same time, this entire season has been spectacular, a big push. Every race has been a fight, but it’s been incredible.
“You know, the overall Globe has been one of the biggest dreams of mine since I was a little girl. This year, it’s something even more special because a fair portion of my wins have come in Super-G, in one of the speed events and I always felt like the overall Globe can mean the best in the world, but I wanted to be able to earn it in all events. And I am still working to get to the point where I can earn it in Slalom, G-S, Super-G and Downhill, but I felt like this season was a really big step.
“It’s been a little grueling, but also insanely gratifying, I guess is the right word.
“So, yeah, here I am, third overall in a row but third overall period. The Slalom Globe is also locked in, The final goal of mine for this year was the Giant Slalom Globe. I guess we’ll see in the next couple of races how that goes.
“I know I’m not showing a whole bunch of like whaaaa … I could go jump around and do a little happy dance, but I feel like nobody really needs to see that. It’s pretty crazy.”
Shiffrin has now won three overall titles in a row, and six Slalom titles (out of the last seven), but has never won the Super-G title (in which she is leading) and the Giant Slalom title (which she is also leading). So she still has plenty to ski for in the final two weeks of the season, starting in Spinderluv Mlyn (CZE) next week for a Giant Slalom and a Slalom.
In terms of history, Shiffrin’s three overall wins in a row ties her with Lindsey Vonn (USA: 2008-09-10), Petra Kronberger (AUT: 1990-91-92) and Annemarie Moser-Proell (AUT: 1971-72-73-74) as the only women to achieve the fear. Moser-Proell’s four in a row will be Shiffrin’s challenge for next year.
FIS still hopes to get in one Super-G race at Rosa Khutor on Sunday.
