Mikaela Shiffrin – 2014
Born in Vail/Beaver Creek and now a resident of Eagle/Vail, Shiffrin began her award-winning career in 2010 by winning the slalom and giant slalom events at a European meet in Toppolino. She then proceeded to take third-place in slalom at the 2011 World Junior Championships as well as the first of two U.S. National slalom titles (2011). She also made her FIS World Cup podium debut with a third-place in slalom at Lienz, two days before her 16th birthday in 2011. She then became a two-time FIS World Cup slalom Globe winner and was named Sportswoman of the Year at the 2013 SWOC Banquet
She now has more than 10 World Cup slalom victories and one World Cup giant slalom win. She also was the U.S. National giant slalom champion in 2014. In 2013, she not only was the overall World Cup gold medalist with five first-place finishes and two third-place finishes – but also the youngest winner since 1974. She is the most prolific among all but three U.S. women in history as well as the first slalom gold medalist in her first World Championships in Austria.
Actually, she is the first American women to earn two World Cup gold medals before the age of 18. Technical races are her forte – her style is smooth and her turns are efficient…or, as she states: “When I ski, it’s like a song. I can hear the rhythm in my head.
She learned the great turns skiing the trees of Vail when she was very young. Her family moved to New Hampshire when she was 8, but when they saw how serious she was about racing, they moved back to Vail when she was 13. Although she graduated from New England’s Burke Mountain Academy in 2013, she chose to not attend college so she could pursue her sport’s activities worldwide.
At the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, she stunned the crowd with the fastest run in the slalom competition and then survived a scary “ski impairment bobble” on the second run to become the “youngest Olympic slalom champion in history:…or as her agent said: “She took her heart in her hands and brought it down the hill.”
Right now, she wants to improve in the Giant Slalom in which she’s only had one World Cup victory and one U.S. National Championship.
Shiffrin also enjoys Soccer, Tennis, Music, the Beach and Family time.