By Rory Carroll
LOS ANGELES Despite having cemented her status as the greatest skier of all time with her record-setting 88th World Cup victory in March, Mikaela Shiffrin has no intention of taking her foot off the gas when the new season begins this weekend.
The 28-year-old slalom queen has nothing left to prove but believes she can still ski faster and plans to compete in more speed events -- downhill and super-G -- this season.
"There's actually nothing left on my to-do list, to be perfectly frank," the American told Reuters in a video call from New York.
"I don't know if I really had a to-do list to begin with but if I did, we're good now.
"But I still somehow feel like I want to keep skiing. I want to see how far I can go in the sport. How much faster can I ski? I feel like still I'm getting faster."
The Vail, Colorado, native has exceeded even the most lofty expectations that were placed on her shoulders when she joined the World Cup circuit as a highly-touted 16-year-old.
Now, having broken Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark's 34-year-old record of World Cup wins, she wants to put it beyond reach for the foreseeable future.
"I felt a clarity come through last season that was pretty spectacular and makes me want to come back for more," she said. "I'm just not done yet."
A more ambitious schedule made sense as the upcoming season did not contain an Olympic Games or World Championships, she said.
"It's an opportunity for me to explore doing a few more speed races. I won't do it if I feel like I'm not prepared but if my preparation feels good, then it would be kind of exciting to try."
Shiffrin, who has managed to avoid any serious injury setbacks in her career, said she saw complacency as the biggest threat to her health.
"I feel like a lot of athletes actually get injured in these 'off years' because they take their foot off the gas," she said. "One of my big goals for this year is to not be complacent."
STILL HUNGRY
Looking ahead to the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics in 2026, the two-time gold medallist said she was happy to see the Games return to a venue that was "more typical" for Alpine skiing after Pyeongchang in 2018 and Beijing in 2022.
"The reality is that it's hard to host Alpine races, you can't just do it anywhere," she said.
"And the past couple of Olympics I've felt like we've been in locations that had to scramble to find a way to do it."
Beijing was Shiffrin's third Games and marked an Olympic low point after she failed to capture a medal.
Despite that disappointment, the amiable Shiffrin said she still rated her Olympic experiences on the whole as a "10 out of 10," because of the life lessons she took from each Games.
"I'd be fine in life without another gold medal and I guess that speaks to where I am in my career. I'm lucky to be able to say that because for a lot of athletes that's the final step in their careers," she said.
"I mean, look at (Novak) Djokovic. That's the only thing he hasn't gotten yet. And it's like, gosh, I feel lucky to be one of the athletes that can say it's okay. Basically I have enough gold. But the hunger is there, that's for sure."
Shiffrin will look to continue her dominance of the sport when she competes in the season-opening giant slalom at Austria's Soelden resort on Saturday.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; editing by Clare Fallon)
