“I’ve never been as low as I’ve ever been.”

After seasons with second and fourth place finishes, the US ski racer won the overall World Cup for the fourth time, drew level with her compatriot Lindsey Vonn in large balls and is second best in the rankings behind six-time winner Annemarie Moser-Pröll. For the 27-year-old, it is the highlight of a winter in which she also felt hatred because she did not deliver as expected at the major event.

From the Olympic Games in China, Shiffrin took a heavy package with her on the plane towards the end of the season. Not in the form of medals beautifully packaged in hand luggage. Because in six attempts she had been unsuccessful six times and had spiraled deeper and deeper into the downward spiral with failures in giant slalom, slalom and combination. Rather, it was a mixture of sadness, incomprehension and disappointment that weighed on her mind. She was condemned and insulted on social media for her failure, she suddenly doubted everything and asked herself the question of the meaning of sport. “I felt the weight, everything collapsed on me.” Shiffrin on difficult moments this season “There have been many moments this season that are great and wonderful. But there were also those moments when I was at the lowest point in my career - not just in terms of skiing, but also as a person. I felt the weight, everything collapsed on me,” said Shiffrin after securing overall success with second place in the Super-G at the season finale in Courchevel ahead of the Slovakian defending champion Petra Vlhova.

The big crystal was still her goal for the season, she put everything on it and felt the pressure, said the winner of three Olympic medals (two gold), eleven World Cup medals (six titles) and 74 World Cup races, five of them in this one Winter. “It's difficult to summarize everything in one day and one bullet. I knew I had a good opportunity for points today. I had to trust my instincts. I secured a podium place, good points and the ball. The whole season was ups and downs and the downs were some of the hardest moments of my career.” “The whole season was ups and downs and the downs were some of the hardest moments of my career.” Mikaela Shiffrin After everything that had happened, this was a special moment, said the girlfriend of Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who won the small crystal ball in downhill and super-G. Together with the coaches and supervisors, we put all our strength into the last races of the season. “I am proud that I have achieved this and grateful and happy for everyone who worked so hard on it.” Since the big goal has now been achieved, she can compete in the remaining slalom and giant slalom in Meribel without any pressure and then go home.

Shiffrin already won the overall World Cup in 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19. At the beginning of February 2020, after the death of her father Jeff, she took a break from the World Cup and lost the confident lead to the Italian Federica Brignone. When she returned to Aare after a six-week mourning period, the season was canceled without any races in Sweden and prematurely due to the outbreak of the corona pandemic. In 2020/21, due to a lack of speed training, she concentrated on the technical competitions, came second in the giant slalom and slalom classifications and ended the season in fourth place in the overall ranking.

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“I’ve never been as low as I’ve ever been.”

Mikaela Shiffrin has returned to the World Cup throne. The American was very emotionally moved.

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