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SPORTS Saturday 24 November 2018
Full speed ahead: Shiffrin envisions another busy schedule

By PAT GRAHAM probably wear on her after
Associated Press a little bit. It's the reality of
By the end of last season, the time allocation to race
Mikaela Shiffrin was so that many races a year
drained she couldn't pos- versus taking some of those
sibly imagine racing in that downhill races off a year."
many events ever again. That's why Aksel Lund Svin-
Right up until this season, dal of Norway gave up the
that is. pursuit. He used to do all
The two-time World Cup the disciplines at a high lev-
overall champion now en- el until a crash in a down-
visions an even more fren- hill training run at Beaver
zied pace. From downhill to Creek, Colorado, in 2007.
super-G, from giant slalom After that, he steadily got
to an array of slaloms along away from the slalom. It
with the occasional com- was too much work to test
bined, just sign her up. all the equipment.
Sure, she will take the oc- "The skis, the boots, the
casional break to sharpen bindings, the down-pres-
her technical skills or get sure on the bindings — the
some rest, but really there's evolution of the equip-
no slowing her down these ment makes it harder and
days. In an era of spe- In this Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018, file photo United States' Mikaela Shiffrin competes during the first harder," Svindal explained.
cialization, the 23-year- run of an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom in Levi, Finland. "It separates the disciplines
old from Avon, Colorado, Associated Press even farther than before."
keeps branching out and and super-G last season weekend and received a more third-place finishes. His teammate Kjetil Jansrud
has become the rare six- and she still wins the overall reindeer as a prize. "And "Is it more challenging rac- also pointed out how this
event racer — even if her by 293 points over Wendy then I'm always thinking, ing (all the events)? You age of specialization has
peers wonder if she can Holdener of Switzerland. 'When am I going to get my bet," U.S. women's assistant been a game changer.
keep it up. That's how dialed in Shiffrin's slalom training in?' coach Karin Harjo said. "If you want to do all of
"It's a challenge right now been at the slalom and the "There's just a certain "There are only so many them, there's just not
I'm willing and excited to GS. amount of preparation I hours in a week and days in enough time to train to the
take on," said Shiffrin , who But she has a craving for need for every event." a year to really prepare at level of the people who
will be a favorite in both more speed. The only hitch The specialization route the highest level." specialize in one event,"
the giant slalom and slalom is each speed training ses- has worked wonders for Especially for the downhill, Jansrud said. "The level is so
races during a World Cup sion takes just a fraction Austria's Marcel Hirscher, where it's typically a four- high in every single event."
stop this weekend in Killing- away from her rhythm for who has captured seven day commitment given all Still, Shiffrin remains game
ton, Vermont. "That's also the technical events, which straight overall World Cup the training runs. for the quest.This weekend,
part of the deal — you have might not be noticeable to titles. Hirscher dominates "It's a difficult task," U.S. she competes in her two
to be excited and motivat- anyone but her. the slalom and GS so much, racer Ted Ligety said. "But signature events — a giant
ed in the sport. That's one "Every day that I train winning both disciplines last when you have people slalom on Saturday and
of the things keeping me downhill or super-G I'm season, that it's hard to de- like Mikaela that have a slalom on Sunday. Shiffrin
motivated." thinking, 'That might just be throne him. He was on the good enough buffer in the has Olympic gold medals
See, Shiffrin knows her win- one little millimeter of my podium 16 times in 20 races slalom, they don't neces- in both disciplines, winning
ning formula doesn't neces- quick twitch muscles go- — none in speed events. sarily train as much in that the slalom at the 2014 So-
sarily involve speed events. ing asleep for a little while,'" Shiffrin was on the podium area to stay on top. But if chi Olympics and the GS at
Case in point: Take away said Shiffrin, who won the 18 times in 26 races — with she does compete in this the Pyeongchang Games
her results from downhill slalom in Levi, Finland, last one downhill win and two many events full-time, it will last February.q

Without a quad, Brown leads figure skating in France

Associated Press sia goes into the free skate pic silver medalists scored
GRENOBLE, France (AP) on Saturday trailing Brown, 84.13 with their sultry and
— Without attempting a who scored 96.41, by near- intense crowd-pleasing
quad jump, Jason Brown ly six points. short dance to "Tango:
built a solid lead at the He fluffed the landing of Oblivion" and "Primavera
French round of the Grand his opening quad lutz but Porteno" by Astor Piazzolla.
Prix figure skating series on quickly recovered and The Russian pair of Victo-
Friday. scored 90.86. ria Sinitsina and Nikita Kat-
The American skater was World champion Nathan salapov was second with
rewarded for his crisp tech- Chen fell on his second 77.91, followed by third-
nique and flowing ease in jump, a quad flip, and was placed Canadians Piper
landing four triple jumps third with 86.94. Gilles and Paul Poirier, who
at the Internationaux de In ice dance, the French scored 74.25.
France. pairing of Gabriella Papa- The sixth and last event of
His rivals, meanwhile, were dakis and Guillaume Ciz- the Grand Prix series offers
penalized for failing to eron outclassed the field in skaters a final chance to US' Jason Brown competes in the Men Short Program Program
cleanly execute more dif- the rhythm dance. qualify for next month's fi- during the ISU figure skating France's Trophy, in Grenoble,
ficult quads. The three-time world nal in Vancouver.q French Alps, Friday, Nov. 23, 2018.
Alexander Samarin of Rus- champions and Olym- Associated Press