Mikaela Shiffrin Fined for Violating the FIS Rule in Copper Mountain, Colorado

On Sunday, November 30, at Copper Mountain, Colorado, Mikaela Shiffrin won her 104th World Cup podium. However, the victory was accompanied with an unanticipated setback: a fine for being late to the pre-race bib draw.

Shiffrin “appeared too late for the starting number draw for the World Cup Slalom of Copper Mountain,” which is a competition that is required for the top 15 competitors in technical disciplines, according to FIS media coordinator Viviane Tonoli.Competitors ranked 1 through 15 are required by FIS rule 9.4 to be on time for the public draw; failing to do so without a valid reason will result in an automatic fine of CHF 999.

Competitors 1 through 15 on the board are required to gather at a specific time for the public draw in the event of an SL, GS, or (AC if first run = SL) competition. […] A punishment of CHF 999.–may be imposed on participants who fail to physically check in for a public draw by the time allotted by FIS on the official daily program, without a valid reason. If it happens again, this penalty could be raised to CHF 5,000.

—FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Regulations

According to reports, Shiffrin got confused on the way to the draw the night before the race, which led to the incident.Despite living in Vail, which is just over 20 minutes away, her close proximity did not exempt her from punishment. Noting that FIS upholds stringent standards regarding athletes’ responsibilities at public events, Tonoli underlined that the rules are applied consistently.

Since this was Shiffrin’s first violation of the rule, she was assessed the minimum fine instead of the higher CHF 5,000 penalty that is imposed on repeat violators.The moment was an uncommon blemish on an otherwise stellar weekend, but the financial impact is negligible given her 67th career Slalom victory and the $63,549 in prize money she took home from Copper Mountain.

Since the fee is a small portion of her award money, hopefully Shiffrin won’t be depressed. | Picture: Instagram Fans of Shiffrin

Published on December 1, 2025 by Julia Schneemann