So, I have a 4-1/2 hour drive. At the start, googling shiffrin news, no word, except that start is delayed. 1-1/2 hour into the drive, still no news, what the heck. So, I go to FIS results. She's in the lead, but no podium place announcements. Then I notice that a whole lot of athletes have raced already, can it be that she won? Holy cow! An hour later, pull over again, and Reuters has published the results. Amazing. And, the suspense!
-
For more information on how to avoid pop-up ads and still support SkiTalk click HERE.
Mikaela Shiffrin
- Thread starter Tricia
- Start date
Thread Starter
TS
Any time I watch those training videos I'm in awe.
So my count so far for Mikaela is 2 wins and 5 podiums total for the season! Amazing performance. 2 downhill podiums with one being the win at Lake Louise is huge for her. It's a big step up into the speed world and a big risk to take for someone who can capture the overall without taking the risks involved in speed. In fact, her and her coaches have historically avoided it due to the risks. She is definitely getting herself prepared for the Olympics is my take on it. If she can maintain this level of skiing and not get injured she will dominate the Olympics.
View media item 2013View media item 2008
View media item 2013View media item 2008
That she is still something to watch.I remember when you started a thread about Mikaela Shiffrin on Epic several years ago. I think the opening line was something like...
This girl is something to watch. She is the next big thing. (Or something like that)
How do you feel about that now?
That she IS a big thing.
I think she was 16 or 17 years old when I started that thread on Epic. It has been a fun & emotional ride so far, looking forward to the next 10 years!
Last edited:
After watching the video of MS and the one of LV on the other thread I am pretty sure the only thing I can do that they are doing is ride a bike...oh, and fall into the pool while trying to do a plank on a floating yoga ball. These women are amazingly fit athletes. Do you think they and their peers are the most overall fit women athletes in the world compared to women in other sports?Any time I watch those training videos I'm in awe.
In 2010, I was at Burke to watch a couple of men's FIS races, and I caught up with a long time friend who was coaching at BMA. I had seen Michaela as a young girl, skiing with her mom. Maybe age eight at the time. She was training GS this day at Burke, years later, and she was incredible to my eye. She was then 14.
My friend told me that she was skiing even better in SL. That alone seemed impossible to me. Basically, his thinking was that she was very, very special. This guy is no newbie. He's put so many kids on the USST, and hundreds into the NCAA ranks. He told me that she was an amazing talent, and an incredibly coachable kid. Nobody would work harder and listen more.
So she went to the Trofeo Topolino, the Italian youth games, where many kids get their first dose of competing with the world's best. She won both events....the GS and SL. Big margins. That was a few weeks after I had seen her. She also won the GS at a similar event, the Whistler Cup, by something like 2.5 seconds. Can't be perfect.
So at her J3 JO's, at Sunday River, she won the GS. No surprise. She won the SL by 11.36 seconds. These were the best J3 girls in the East, many the best in the country.
At that point, every single person involved in the sport had their jaw drop and realized that these wins were no fluke, the margins had been no fluke, and this kid was like no other.
She pretty much continues to amaze, seven-eight years later
Figuring out the right plan for her moving forward is going to be really interesting to watch. If you buy into the fact that racing at the very top in every one of the four events, racing the full WC calendar in all four, is really impossible, how do you manage this and make choices?
I'm very interested to watch.
A very veteran coach, pretty on top of things, texted me this weekend and said "I think she would be even more dialed in, and further ahead if they did not have to spend so much time screwing around with her boots, and her overall setup. That is a serious time suck, and it's something that can't keep going on."
Would MS on a better and faster setup be a bit scary to the rest of the field? Yikes. Adds some more interest to the season, and beyond.
Yeah, she is once in a lifetime. Firmly in that camp. Awesome.
BTW, Breezy Johnson is showing jets. She's a year younger than MS, and she has a very bright and fast future ahead of her. Good stuff!
My friend told me that she was skiing even better in SL. That alone seemed impossible to me. Basically, his thinking was that she was very, very special. This guy is no newbie. He's put so many kids on the USST, and hundreds into the NCAA ranks. He told me that she was an amazing talent, and an incredibly coachable kid. Nobody would work harder and listen more.
So she went to the Trofeo Topolino, the Italian youth games, where many kids get their first dose of competing with the world's best. She won both events....the GS and SL. Big margins. That was a few weeks after I had seen her. She also won the GS at a similar event, the Whistler Cup, by something like 2.5 seconds. Can't be perfect.
So at her J3 JO's, at Sunday River, she won the GS. No surprise. She won the SL by 11.36 seconds. These were the best J3 girls in the East, many the best in the country.
At that point, every single person involved in the sport had their jaw drop and realized that these wins were no fluke, the margins had been no fluke, and this kid was like no other.
She pretty much continues to amaze, seven-eight years later
Figuring out the right plan for her moving forward is going to be really interesting to watch. If you buy into the fact that racing at the very top in every one of the four events, racing the full WC calendar in all four, is really impossible, how do you manage this and make choices?
I'm very interested to watch.
A very veteran coach, pretty on top of things, texted me this weekend and said "I think she would be even more dialed in, and further ahead if they did not have to spend so much time screwing around with her boots, and her overall setup. That is a serious time suck, and it's something that can't keep going on."
Would MS on a better and faster setup be a bit scary to the rest of the field? Yikes. Adds some more interest to the season, and beyond.
Yeah, she is once in a lifetime. Firmly in that camp. Awesome.
BTW, Breezy Johnson is showing jets. She's a year younger than MS, and she has a very bright and fast future ahead of her. Good stuff!
Not necessarily fitter but as fit as any. I do think their fitness is more well rounded than athletes in many other sports. I would use the old Superstars made for TV competitions as an example. Beginning with Killy winning the very first, skiers have always shined.
I'd put the US women's soccer players up there, too. They will be fitter from an endurance standpoint, and the skiers will be stronger, but overall I would say similar.
A respectable finish today creates another achievable goal for Shiffrin. How long till she has a win in all 4 events. A win in Super-G this season will have her winning all 4 in one season. Throw in a combined & it's 5. Has anyone done that? Heck if she'd done it today it would've been 4 in a 2 week period.
I really respect how she downplayed her DH win in a post race interview citing the lower start & good light playing in her favor.
She was also realistic about the chances of competing in the DH at the Olympics. She also pointed out that the speed events followed the SL & GS which would be her main focus.
EDIT: Too many races lately. Has sh won GS this year?
I really respect how she downplayed her DH win in a post race interview citing the lower start & good light playing in her favor.
She was also realistic about the chances of competing in the DH at the Olympics. She also pointed out that the speed events followed the SL & GS which would be her main focus.
EDIT: Too many races lately. Has sh won GS this year?
Last edited:
Three thoughts. I think this largely nails it. The very best have an unusual mix of strength and fitness. These women can push a ton of iron, and test well in any fitness measures.
It's an anaerobic sport, so that is what they train for. It's not an endurance sport. So, one needs to look at "fitness" through that lens. Still, when you think of stories of somebody like MS going "full gas" for 15+ training runs in a session, they have some serious endurance as well!
Third, not every woman on the WC is incredibly fit, or a dedicated beast in the gym. They are not normally near the top, at all. They get by with a lot of talent and skills. Frankly they fall short because they are not as fit, or as strong.
Look at MS, and listen to the commentary about how she always makes up time at the bottom of courses. Some say that she skis flats exceptionally well, or that she is the best at mastering the transition from steeps to flats. I hear many more saying that her fitness is off the charts, and that she doesn't get as tired.
I know a few other female former pro, and current pro athletes. All pretty damn fit. Different mixes of fit and strength. Female cyclists, Nordic skiers......strong and fit. I know two former Olympic oarswomen.....I would say they might challenge Alpine skiers.
They all work SO hard.
It’ll be telling if she goes to Head and gets even faster.
Is there any other brand positioned to pay her enough? I don’t know anything but I get the impression that Rossi, Nordica, etc won’t pay enough.
Well, at least you realize that the size of the contract is a HUGE factor in evaluating this. Rarely do skiers NOT go to the highest bidder. His one might turn out to be different, or not.
She's been with Atomic since she was about seven years old. And her skiing has been so exceptional that it's all worked "well enough." Her contract is up at the end of the season.
I have zero insight into what might happen. My hunch is that her agent will be quietly talking to companies, and some will be ruled out because they simply can't {I don't think won't is the right word} pony up with might be the biggest contract in the sport. If they can't be in the financial ballpark, why even test the equipment? They won't. It will be a really short list, IMO.
I suppose that with so many contracts expiring after this Olympic season, some companies would consider trying to put a lot of eggs into the MS basket, and cutting a lot of others. You have skiers who will retire, and transition to more like ambassador roles with companies.
I don't think that it's a stretch to say that Head, and their owner will buy any skier they want, and outpay anybody. However, It might also be the case that the skis that stack up the least favorably against the competition are their W's SL skis. I dunno. Wendy Holdener seems pretty fast. They have also had some boot issues with some women. Mancuso being "Exhibit A". Seems like they have no problems with custom boots for big women, like LV, and for tiny feet like Gut, Veith, Wierather. None ski SL,and need a SL boot.
I don't know. You hear rumors that Nordica/Blizz/Tecnica can't afford her, same with Volkl and Rossi/Lange. Rossi is a big company, and I would think they might be able to. They have a lot of athletes, and a lot of contracts. But hers is going to dwarf anybody else.
Maybe she ends up back with Atomic? It just seems odd that almost every summer and fall, you hear of their being SO many challenges to get her boots right, and her setup correct. Having said that, she sure as heck looked great at LL.
No lack of boot theorists posting on the net, posting videos, etc. I remind myself that the people responsible for this, including her last three coaches in addition to ever single boot mind within the Amer Sports group, I think know their stuff. Maybe the boots are "not so bad."
But the company that will likely pay more than anybody, IMO, will be Head.
One more interesting thing to watch for around late April or May. Assume it will be absolute crickets until then.
Lets see.....Hirscher and Shiffrin both on Atomic..... The only reason to go to Head would be money. It's hard to make the argument they would get faster at Head. If it's not broke, don't fix it.
Do we know whether Mikaela's boot issues are from the boot design or something inherit to her, like bone spurs from over-skiing?
I doubt her Mom is going to make anything like that public knowledge but I know of skiing careers cut short due to chronic foot pain and spur formation. She'd be a likely candidate based on her training schedule. And perhaps I'm ignorant but my understanding is that you can't prevent them from occurring with certain types of feet and genetics. At least it was the case for me (8 of them removed) and Karl Anderson, a Maine DHer I knew.
I doubt her Mom is going to make anything like that public knowledge but I know of skiing careers cut short due to chronic foot pain and spur formation. She'd be a likely candidate based on her training schedule. And perhaps I'm ignorant but my understanding is that you can't prevent them from occurring with certain types of feet and genetics. At least it was the case for me (8 of them removed) and Karl Anderson, a Maine DHer I knew.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2015
- Posts
- 24,849
No idea about her bone spurs, but that's just making space in the boot. Pretty basic. The issues are angles and construction - what happens when it flexes. They can mix cuffs and clogs and shape them for fit. That's usually not the issue.
It just shows you the issues with boots when the best in the world, with all resources available, has a tough time getting it dialed in.
The more interesting question is could she break up the norm that an athlete's ski/boot/binding all come from the same company. Very few people have such standing to even contemplate disrupting the status quo. Taylor Swift in music for example.
Is it even possible? Does FIS care or is it up to the sponsor and athlete? It would be great if she found boots that needed much less architectural surgery. Then told Atomic (if this is the case) I won't ski in your boots but I'll use your skis. Or maybe Atomic liscenses someone else's design?
Or you just pick the sponsor based on the boots. If they can pay. Or make the sponsor build you a boot? But what if it doesn't work?
She's going to end up with one company.
What she actually ends up skiing on, and in, is an entirely different question.
Her ski/boot/binding company will just want us, the fans and the buying public to assume that she's "on their product."
And she very well may be....... 99% of those on the WC are. Very very few are not.
She is going to command a record contract in the sport, and NO company is going to agree to skis without boots, etc. At least in terms of the marketing and appearance. Heck, no company agrees to it at all. You don't want both.....go elsewhere. And in recent years, you see that everybody is aligned that way.
In about 2-3 cases, let's say that you might be able to have boots built by another company. But in most cases they are mortal enemies. Seriously so.
This boot issue is not normal, and sorry Atomic fans, it's almost all related to Atomic and the rollout of the Redster. It has improved much since those days {2012}. This is just not an issue for most.
In 2012, in the fall, I asked a couple of good WC skiers if they were in the new Atomic boot. "Nope." I asked if anybody was. "Nobody who's any good, and has a choice." Were all of their older design boots make to look like Redsters? Yes. Over time did the boot guys make bots that worked better? Absolutely? But not that well for all of them.
The number of skiers making serious money is a lot smaller than it once was. Most skiers are pleased to get product that they feel is "good", and if they can get a decent contract, they ALWAYS go with the best deal. I can't recall of a skier who ended up on a ski that paid him/her less. There is a pecking order to all of this, as I know I've mentioned a few times. Many factors.
I really can't get deep into this, without betraying a bunch of confidences. Sorry.
What she actually ends up skiing on, and in, is an entirely different question.
Her ski/boot/binding company will just want us, the fans and the buying public to assume that she's "on their product."
And she very well may be....... 99% of those on the WC are. Very very few are not.
She is going to command a record contract in the sport, and NO company is going to agree to skis without boots, etc. At least in terms of the marketing and appearance. Heck, no company agrees to it at all. You don't want both.....go elsewhere. And in recent years, you see that everybody is aligned that way.
In about 2-3 cases, let's say that you might be able to have boots built by another company. But in most cases they are mortal enemies. Seriously so.
This boot issue is not normal, and sorry Atomic fans, it's almost all related to Atomic and the rollout of the Redster. It has improved much since those days {2012}. This is just not an issue for most.
In 2012, in the fall, I asked a couple of good WC skiers if they were in the new Atomic boot. "Nope." I asked if anybody was. "Nobody who's any good, and has a choice." Were all of their older design boots make to look like Redsters? Yes. Over time did the boot guys make bots that worked better? Absolutely? But not that well for all of them.
The number of skiers making serious money is a lot smaller than it once was. Most skiers are pleased to get product that they feel is "good", and if they can get a decent contract, they ALWAYS go with the best deal. I can't recall of a skier who ended up on a ski that paid him/her less. There is a pecking order to all of this, as I know I've mentioned a few times. Many factors.
I really can't get deep into this, without betraying a bunch of confidences. Sorry.
She probably will indeed end up with one company (HEAD) but then again,Tina Maza didn't. Rebensburg is probably being paid decently by Stockli and Lange. Maza skied Stockli, Lange and (I believe) Atomic bindings. Shiffren could be so marketable that she could make her own best deal. Yeah, this scenario is unlikely, but it could happen.
Last edited:
Rudi Riet
AKA songfta AKA randomduck - a USSS coach, as well
SkiTalk Tester
Contributor
SkiTalk Supporter
The thing with Stöckli is that they don't have any official binding or boot brand, though most of their athletes use Atomic bindings (and in the case of Maze, she used the older Race 1018, which is the legacy ESS-VAR design and not the newer Neox most current Atomic athletes use). It's the rare ski brand that isn't vertically integrated (or at least officially aligned) these days.
So it's not a real parallel to compare the Stöckli athletes to athletes on Head, Atomic, et al. Stöckli athletes can choose their boots. Mancuso is on Lange (offically sponsored by them), as is Rebensburg. Rebensburg uses Marker bindings and plates (Stöckli skis are available flat or with a Vist plate).
If Stöckli had the budget to pursue Shiffrin, that would be great. But they're a smaller company and have a lot of top-tier athletes on their product. When Maze retired, a lot of fast speed skis from Stöckli became available, most of them going to Ilka Stuhec, some of them possibly going to Rebensburg. But they don't have the R&D cash of an Amer (Atomic/Salomon) or Head, so attracting the premier alpine skier of this generation would be exceedingly tough.
But it could work well for Shiffrin. She could ski on the best boot for her feet. Heck, she could even ski a different brand for tech and speed (not likely, but she has the money to self-fund this stuff, so... who knows?). But that kind of juggling would distract from training and competition unless done perfectly every day of the season. Go to a one-stop shop - Atomic/Salomon, Fischer, Head, Rossi/Lange, Völki/Dalbello - and it's a lot simpler to coordinate changes when they're needed.
I'm thinking Atomic will free up funds to retain Shiffrin. They've allowed the golden goose to flee before (Bode Miller), and I don't think they'll let that happen again.
We shall see....
Nothing is going to happen before the Olympics. You simply don't change in the midst of such success and with so much just around the corner.....
Sponsor
Staff online
-
dbostedoAsst. Gathermeister -
PhilpugNotorious P.U.G. -
Dave PetersenGraphic Designer/Social Media Manager
Members online
- Jenny
- MnLakeBum
- Scruffy
- skidrew
- jpops5
- Rich McP
- C-Ski
- skiki
- Doug Briggs
- bluefish
- Even_Stevens
- Truberski
- xiskiguy
- Cheizz
- JWMN
- dbostedo
- Angus Grizzly
- Spnole
- mdf
- Bill Clark
- Eddie
- SkiOAP
- Eldarbsb
- Stev
- BLiP
- LouD-Truckee
- HardDaysNight
- DerKommissar
- Crumb
- Philpug
- LiquidFeet
- crgildart
- Noodler
- Crank
- johnb
- Mothertucker
- Living Proof
- Mendieta
- eric100
- MissySki
- graham418
- Andreasfic
- ANOpax
- deadheadskier
- Johnny V.
- DebbieSue
- raytseng
- Dave Petersen
- Jersey Skier
- Uncle-A