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Lindsey Vonn expressed her disappointment with Mikaela Shiffrin’s handling of her choice to race with another teammate
Austria, SAALBACH-HINTERGLEMM (AP) – The two greatest skiers in American history are these two. In fact, in women’s skiing in general.
It is therefore not surprising that there is occasionally conflict when Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin are on the same team.
It took place years ago, when Shiffrin was just starting her career and Vonn was nearing the end of hers. Now that Vonn has returned to racing at the age of 40 after almost six years of retirement, it’s happening once more.
However, who could have predicted that the friction would be brought to the surface by a brand-new team event?
Vonn stated on Monday that she was “disappointed” in Shiffrin’s handling of her choice to compete in the combined at the skiing world championships alongside downhill world champion Breezy Johnson rather than joining her on a “dream team.”
In order to bring together the two most accomplished skiers in World Cup history, Vonn had run to race alongside Shiffrin on an American squad. It doesn’t matter that neither skier is technically permitted to choose their partner; instead, the coaching staff of the U.S. team makes that decision based on “season-best results” in both slalom and downhill.
FILE – United States’ Lindsey Vonn, right, chats with United States’ Mikaela Shiffrin after women’s downhill training at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Jeongseon, South Korea, Feb. 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Cristophe Ena, File)
After her November crash in Killington, Vermont, Shiffrin then declared that she was behind schedule in her giant slalom training and would not be competing in the team combined.
Shiffrin’s plans changed on Monday. She said she was having trouble overcoming her fears after her crash in November, so she opted to race the combined instead of defending her giant slalom title, pairing with Johnson. Shiffrin will do the slalom, and Johnson will race the downhill.
Slalom is a less dangerous sport than giant slalom because the speeds are lower.
“I think Breezy and Mikaela make a fantastic team, so I’m thrilled to see them work together. But in a statement to The Associated Press, Vonn said, “I am disappointed in the way it was handled.”
Vonn claimed that after she contacted Shiffrin, Shiffrin agreed that racing with her would be fantastic. Vonn was then informed that Shiffrin would not be joining the combined. It was only through Instagram that Vonn discovered Shiffrin’s ultimate decision to race it.
“Despite the lack of communication I am a team player and am looking forward to be partnered with AJ Hurt, who is an amazing young skier,” Vonn stated.
A spokesperson for Shiffrin chose not to comment on the matter.
The final results of the combined event are calculated by adding the times of the two racers who compete in a slalom run and a downhill run. Up to four pairings may be entered by each country.
They were selected for Team 1 because Shiffrin has won two World Cups this season and Johnson won the downhill world title.
Super-G bronze medallist Lauren Macuga and Paula Moltzan make up the No. 2 squad. Hurt and Vonn are ranked third, while Katie Hensien and Jacqueline Wiles are ranked fourth.
With 99 wins for Shiffrin and 82 for Vonn, they are the most successful female racers in World Cup history. Shiffrin holds the record in slalom with 62 and Vonn is the all-time leader in World Cup downhill victories with 43. These records apply to both men and women.
“I think it would be probably one of the coolest things in ski racing to have 181 World Cup victories on one team,” Vonn stated last week.
Hurt, 24, has never won a World Cup race, but she has placed third twice, once in giant slalom and once in slalom, both of which were last season.
Vonn seemed upset that Shiffrin wasn’t racing with her before she made her explanation.
“Why am I not surprised?” Vonn saw Shifrin’s announcement on Instagram and posted a shrug emoji on the social media site X.
“I’ve always been a team player and I support my team no matter what,” Vonn wrote in a new post on X after deleting the previous one. Although I’m not shocked by the choices made, at least it’s obvious now that I didn’t make them. Vonn ended with an emoji of the Go USA flag. “I have always been supportive and respectful and that will never change,” Vonn stated.
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