[OrangeHoof]

She’s on the U.S. Ski team but she’s not my skiier. I’ll root for the other ones.

[21twelve]

The following is a REALLY good article about Mikaela Shiffrin - a USA women's slalom skier. She won her first world cup at 16 or something, is now 20? or so - her mom is still her main coach. Last year she was winning races by 3 seconds on the World Cup! (Usually a win is by 0.2 seconds or something). I'll be watching her at the Olympics.

Anyway - the article goes into the hard physical and mental work behind her training. While others at the Olympic training center would take a day skiing the perfect powder day - she was training.

They worked it out, and estimated on average she is on the snow only 7 minutes a day over the entire year. Which is more than most other skiers. She said even taking the cat- walk to the lift she is practicing her turns and doing everything right - when the time is so limited - every practice turn counts.

BTW - while Vonn should just shut up and ski, my first thought upon her collapse after the race was “She toughed it out for how long during the race?!” Physically - she's no snowflake - few of these elite athletes are (physically).

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/11/27/mikaela-shiffrin-the-best-slalom-skier-in-the-world