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Mikaela Shiffrin reacts to young fan cheering her on as she storms to her season's first World Cup win in Levi
On Sunday, November 18, Mikaela Shiffrin stormed to her first World Cup victory of the season after a clinical display in Levi. Cheering the American on as she aced the slopes was a young fan at home, and the skier found her supporter adorable.
For Shiffrin, this performance in Levi comes just a couple of weeks after she opened her season with a lukewarm performance in Austria. The 29-year-old had finished 5th in her run in Soelden, despite having led the standings early on.
However, the Colorado native is now back to her dominant ways, storming ahead of her competitors with ease to claim her eighth victory on the slopes of Levi. This also marks Shiffrin's 98th World Cup win, re-establishing her status as the winningest skier of all time.
While the American was busy competing in Finland, she had a young fan cheering her on from home. An Instagram story of the fan rooting for the skier read 'Paula cheering up her biggest idol, Mikaela Shiffrin, at the Levi World Cup'. Shiffrin reposted the story and added three watery eyes emojis in response to her adorable supporter.
Mikaela Shiffrin on her victory in Levi
Mikaela Shiffrin's performance in Levi was absolutely phenomenal. She clocked a total time of 1:47.20 to finish well ahead of her competitors.
Speaking on her race, the American said (as quoted by ESPN),
"I felt strong and solid and good energy. Little bit nervous, like first race, first slalom of the season, so I'm happy with how I managed the mentality and pushed with my skiing.”
She went on to add that she found the slopes a little tricky at times but was happy with her run.
"I was getting twisted sometimes, but then keep fighting. Not the perfect tempo, but enough really good turns that it works really well. In the end, a really solid run in conditions not so easy.”
Shiffrin also spoke about her lukewarm performance in Soelden and the long season ahead, saying,
“From this weekend, I am racing every single weekend until World Championships [in February], for sure. So it's going be a really big push now, and I was a little bit off on my mentality in Soelden, so hopefully I can bring the GS under control. But it was very important to start with a good place in slalom.”
Joining Mikaela Shiffrin on the podium in Levi were Austria’s Katharina Liensberger and Germany's Lena Duerr. The American will next be in action between November 23 and 24, when she takes to the slopes of Gurgl, Austria.
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