Skiing - Petra Vlhová vs. Mikaela Shiffrin: I need to clarify my priorities

yesterday 19:30
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She did not win and was defeated by her great rival Petra Vlhová. Still, American skier Mikaela Shiffrin may have a smile on her face. Under normal circumstances, she would not be satisfied, but after the events of recent weeks, things have changed.

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There were five slaloms this season. Vlhová won four times, once Shiffrin, who was second three times. The domination of the two sovereigns is obvious, they have always taken the first two places. The only exception is the year-round slalom in Lienz, Austria.

Mikaela Shiffrin did not take part in the positive coronavirus test, which was announced by the public on December 27, two days before the slalom. She missed Lienz, but managed to recover quickly, and on January 4, she was no longer missing on the slopes in Zagreb.

“Two days before the race, I knew I could take part. I was sure I would not miss the slalom in Zagreb. I only needed one or two workouts. The whole coronavirus situation is special. The worst thing for me is the uncertainty, you can’t guess what’s going to happen. “ Shiffrin told the International Ski Federation (FIS).

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The coronavirus is gradually spreading in the women’s World Cup carousel. In addition to Shiffrin, Katharina Liensberger, Lara Gutová-Behramiová, Alice Robinsonová and, most recently, three Swiss women also became infected. Shiffrin was one of the happiest COVID hadn’t been so affected by.

“Some athletes had great problems returning after the illness. I’m really grateful to be able to come back. I missed training the most, I couldn’t have it in quarantine, but otherwise I feel normal. I was lucky.”

The return was not facilitated even by the difficult conditions in Zagreb. It was extremely warm, the organizers had a difficult task with the preparation of the track, which was relatively broken and its condition worsened with each competitor. A strong wind added to it.

“It simply came to our notice then. When it’s really warm, it’s hard to prepare everything. It’s warm and you’re trying to make snow, you’re fighting the weather.

I was far from ideal training. You are always trying to prepare for heavy snow. When it blows, you say that maybe the race will be interrupted and it will go in better weather. Probably no skier expected such conditions and prepared for them. It was difficult to estimate when, how and from where it would blow. “ Shiffrin said.

In addition to the mentioned problems, there was something unusual on the track, a large part of it was covered with leaves. “I’ve seen letters on the piste all my career, but I haven’t seen them fly and blow in the wind. It was quite funny. During my ride, I said to myself: wooou, what’s going on? I laughed I hadn’t seen it yet. “

However, it was not something that would affect her in her performance. She revealed what weather she likes the least and makes her the biggest problem. “The fog can be scary, even when it’s dark and you can see almost nothing. The wind is also very unpleasant, it throws you off balance. The worst thing for me is poor visibility, it’s probably the wind behind it. ” revealed the great rival Petra Vlhová.

She would not be satisfied with the second place and a loss of half a second under normal circumstances, but after a few days without training it was a great encouragement for her. “It was a big challenge for me after I couldn’t ski for the last few weeks. But I still feel like I can ski well.

We had conditions in which I normally feel insecure. I felt pretty good today. So I’m quite happy. I still have to work on a few things and get back in shape, after a ten-day quarantine, when I was just in the room, I lost some strength.

I feel more optimistic and better after slalom than before. Overall, I showed a good performance, which is amazing after such a long time when I didn’t even have skis on. ”

Photo gallery

Mikaela Shiffrinová

Source: reuters

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Like all competitors, Shiffrin is already looking towards the Olympics, which begins on February 3. However, all the preparation plans and ideal scenarios are again spoiled by the pandemic, all the more so for Shiffrin, because she also became infected. She herself could not say her exact program for the near future.

“You can prepare and have some plans, but things can still happen that will ruin everything for you. I knew it before, they’ve been confirming it for the last few weeks. I’ll see how I do in the next race, we go to Kranjska Gora.

But I don’t know if I’m going to go a huge slalom, I haven’t trained him for a long time and it looks like there will be challenging weather conditions, ” commented on the coming days. In Kranjska Gora, there is a huge slalom and slalom on the program over the next weekend.

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The skiers will then move to Flachau, Austria, where they will go slalom on 11 January. After that, he moves to speed disciplines. In Zauchensee, a neighboring resort with Flachau, there is also a convention in the super-G program, on January 15 and 16. Shiffrin originally planned to go to all the disciplines at the Olympics and was not expected to miss the speed events in January. Has that changed?

“There are things I have to work on. I need time and preparation. However, the countdown to the Olympics has already begun, I need to clarify my priorities with the team and have even better preparation ahead of Beijing. ” insisted that they clarify the next program.

Photo gallery

Mikaela Shiffrinová and Petra Vlhová

Zdroj: SITA / AP

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Plan A – to go to all five disciplines at the Olympics (slalom, giant slalom, super-G, downhill, alpine combination – downhill and slalom), no longer seems so clear-cut. Is she more inclined towards him or is she moving on to Plan B?

“I am somewhere in between. We’ll see when we come to Beijing. It’s an Olympics. You do everything the best you can. Slalom and giant slalom are my strongest disciplines. I am more optimistic in slalom after today, I am in a good position.

In the coming weeks we will see how I will be doing in the giant slalom. Maybe we will decide in Beijing. But I’m less sure of Plan A, there are things you just can’t overcome. I’m optimistic, but … I don’t know. This is not a really good answer. ” laughed Shiffrin, who still doesn’t know what’s going to happen.

He already has three precious metals from the Olympics at the showcase. In 2014, she won gold in slalom, four years later she added gold from a huge slalom and silver from a combination. She will be a big favorite on the podium at the Olympics this time as well. But she is in an unusual situation for her. In her dominant slalom, she is not the number one favorite, but up to two, behind Petra Vlhová, the sovereign of the current season.

“It is very difficult to compete with Petra. It’s hard for anyone to win when she’s there. It’s obvious how hard she and her whole team work. They do everything to give her a chance to perform at her best. And she shows really good performances that are always hard to beat. There are some chances, but small when it is so strong and does not make any mistakes. It’s amazing and it’s a difficult challenge for me. ” commented on Margo Vlhová for the Slovak Skiing Association.