Story highlights
Shiffrin wins first World Cup overall title
Also won fourth World Cup slalom globe
Mum Eileen is one of her coaches
She’s American skiing’s golden girl, but Mikaela Shiffrin is quick to deflect much of the credit to her backroom team – especially her mum.
Shiffrin wrapped up her first World Cup overall title in Aspen to become only the third American woman to win the crystal globe for best all-rounder after Tamara McKinney (1983) and Lindsey Vonn (2008-2010, 2012).
At just 22, she beat Slovenia’s Ilka Stuhec to the overall crown and bagged a fourth World Cup slalom title this season, to add to three slalom world championships and the 2014 Olympic slalom gold medal.
If Vonn is the long-time queen of speed skiing, Shiffrin is the technical superstar and hot favorite to retain her slalom crown at the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.
“The one thing I can be certain of is my success is not my own,” Shiffrin, who has won 31 World Cup races to Vonn’s 77, told CNN’s Alpine Edge show at last weekend’s season finale in Aspen.
“I have a team around me, my physio, coaches, my mum, (ski) serviceman – all have very selfless personalities, all seem to be very much motivated to help me succeed and work towards my goals without an ulterior motive.”
‘Best friend’
Shiffrin’s mother Eileen travels with her in an unspecified role which includes coaching, mentoring, motivating, cooking, nursing, being a best friend and a mum all at the same time.
“Some of her teammates have said, ‘I would never be able to have my mum around that much, it would make me crazy, forget it,’ but Mikaela likes it, she’s a family person,” Shiffrin’s mother explains.