Mikaela Shiffrin to cut slalom schedule in pursuit of 'scary' new challenge during 2026-27 FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup campaign
Published 06/10/2026 at 19:11 GMT+1
Mikaela Shiffrin will focus more heavily on giant slalom and super-G this season after deciding to race a reduced slalom schedule in what the American star has described as an "exploration" of new challenges.
Shiffrin 'felt so insecure' before slalom gold
Video credit: TNT Sports
The three-time Olympic champion will skip the traditional early-season slaloms in Levi, Finland, and Gurgl, Austria, instead shifting more of her focus towards giant slalom and super-G events during the 2026-27 FIS Alpine Skiing campaign.
While Shiffrin is not abandoning the discipline that helped make her the most successful skier in World Cup history with 110 victories, she will not return to slalom competition until the fourth stop of the season at Killington.
"I'm trying something new here, and it's different and it is a little scary," Shiffrin said on her 'What’s the Point' podcast.
"It's pretty uncomfortable and it's also very, very exciting and all of those things can exist at the same time.
"Instead of asking: 'How much can I possibly fit into this upcoming season?', I'm asking: 'What happens if I give myself enough space to explore the things that I'm the most curious about?'
"I feel ambitious. I still feel competitive. I feel like I have a desire to ski fast. I feel like those things haven't changed. I'm really just giving myself permission to be curious about where that takes me, and that's the exploration."
The move comes after another highly successful season for Shiffrin, who claimed a sixth overall World Cup title, finishing 87 points clear of Germany's Emma Aicher, last time out. She also secured the slalom crystal globe after edging out Switzerland's Camille Rast.
However, the American finished fourth in the giant slalom standings and outside the top 30 in super-G.
Her most recent World Cup victory in super-G came in December 2022, while her last downhill win came the following year.
"The joy for me has never been about medals or records," she added.
"I can't emphasise enough, nothing about slalom is easy. Racing slalom underprepared would be like jumping into a giant blender and just trying to avoid the blades.
"I'm not trying to do less because I care less. I'm trying to do something different because I still care so much."
"This also has something to do with this concept of skiing for myself," she added. "For most of my career, I've been really aware of how everything I do will affect the people and the partners and the sort of stakeholders and how it's just going to affect others.
"I'm so incredibly grateful for those people. I've also realised that there's a difference between gratitude for people who help you and feeling like I have to make decisions about my life and career for those people.
"I'm trying a little bit more to live in the gratitude of it and ski because I want to ski."
The World Cup season kicks off on October 24 with a giant slalom race in Soelden, Austria.
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