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American women on skis are revving for Sochi

Several American women, all on skis, hope to make their marks, and even take medals, at the Sochi Games. Let's meet these Olympians.

2. Mikaela Shiffrin: Alpine skiing's next big thing

Marco Tacca/AP
The American teen won the slalom race at the 2013 World Championships.

  • By Staff writers

Mikaela Shiffrin could be alpine skiing's next big thing – if she isn't already. Eighteen-year-old professional skiers just don't do what she is doing.

Already, Shiffrin has won seven World Cup races (all of them slaloms). Only two other women have ever won seven World Cup races before turning 19, and one of them is the legendary Janica Kostelić of Croatia.

But that's hardly the most impressive achievement on her résumé.

At age 17, she won the slalom race at the 2013 World Championships (the second biggest skiing event after the Olympics). A few weeks later, three days after her 18th birthday, the native of Vail, Colo., won the World Cup slalom title, meaning she was the best slalom skier in the world last year. She is leading the World Cup slalom standings again this year.

Shiffrin, known for her seemingly effortless technique, used to skip race days when she was younger so she could practice more. Competing in the World Cup, which consists of events almost exclusively in Europe, she has toured with her mother, Eileen Shiffrin, the past few years.

"She knows what mood I like to be in when I race, and she knows how to get me there," Shiffrin said of her mom at a media event in October. "She's pretty essential."

– Mark Sappenfield, Staff writer

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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