Mikaela Shiffrin

[Uncle-A]

This may sound like a negative thing but fame can be a double edged sword. Being able to go somewhere and not be stormed by adoring fans can be a good thing. It can affect ones well being especially if the person is more about the results of the hard work and not about success.

 

[fatbob]

This may sound like a negative thing but fame can be a double edged sword. Being able to go somewhere and not be stormed by adoring fans can be a good thing. It can affect ones well being especially if the person is more about the results of the hard work and not about success.

Indeed. My brother once saw MS and her mum in an airline lounge at Milan. Very few people seemed to recognise her, and of course he didn't bother her.

I suspect she does just fine financially and has as much public profile as she wants to handle. I suspect her future life will be about what else she can do on her own terms rather than trying to trade off past glories.

 

[Tricia]

You have some good points, for me I would remove all the team sports and only focus on the individual sports. Let's face it alpine ski racing is one person again the clock. Who ever is the fastest is the winner.

I agree.
The team aspect in ski racing is much different than the team aspect(s) that have been brought up here.

I mean, you have a team around you but you're left out there alone to perform in sports like ski racing.

 

[dan ross]

The New York Times Mikaela Shiffrin article on the front page of the Denver Post kind of reminds me of the Movie "King Richard.," about the Williams sisters and their parents: parents - and kids - who were, and are, at least ten steps ahead

Sorry for the thread drift, but WC telemark is a bit crazy. I remember reading about it when there was a race at, now, Saskadena 6 a few years ago. There is a GS-like course with old school World Pro Tour jumps and then at the bottom of the course there is a high speed 180 degree bank turn followed by an XC skate skiing section to get to the finish

I kinda liked that ! I honestly did not know it existed as a sanctioned event. Duals make it more fun . Thanks for posting.

 

[robertc3]

This may sound like a negative thing but fame can be a double edged sword. Being able to go somewhere and not be stormed by adoring fans can be a good thing. It can affect ones well being especially if the person is more about the results of the hard work and not about success.

Mikaela mentioned this double edged sword in an interview on NPR yesterday. She said she likes to be about to go to almost any American city and walk around anonymously. She can't do that in Europe. The only reason she cited for wanting more money in ski racing was so that there might be more racers would could choose to pursue a career after ski racing because they want to rather than having to work to put food on the table.

 

[Teppaz]

Here's a NY Times article about Karin Harjo's appointment (I made it a gift link so it should be paywall-free).

“It’s about wanting to put a bigger spotlight on female coaches,” Shiffrin said in a telephone interview from Europe on Sunday afternoon. “I’ve accomplished a lot, but maybe in this stage of my career I can give other female ski coaches more of a visual of something to strive for.
“Everybody talks about legacy or asks what I want to accomplish in the final years of my career. This coaching decision was something that got my wheels turning. This feels important.”

 

[James]

I guess in ten years women coaches will be ignored as much as the men are now. At least in the US.

 

[robertc3]

Thank you, Teppaz. That was a great read. It is amazing that Mikaela made the hire at least in part to give a woman a very high profile job so Harjo can be a role model for other female coaches as Mikaela is for female athletes. She was looking to leave a legacy and that is a pretty amazing legacy to leave. MS gets more impressive the more you know about her.

 

[Teppaz]

I guess in ten years women coaches will be ignored as much as the men are now. At least in the US.

Hey, we just want the opportunity to be ignored while drawing a salary, as opposed to being ignored for free!

 

[ski otter 2]

Thank you, Teppaz. That was a great read. It is amazing that Mikaela made the hire at least in part to give a woman a very high profile job so Harjo can be a role model for other female coaches as Mikaela is for female athletes. She was looking to leave a legacy and that is a pretty amazing legacy to leave. MS gets more impressive the more you know about her.

This new hire sure makes sense out of her change of main coach, pretty much shows why - instead of some problem with Mike Day.

 

[James]

Still, something went on. You don’t just get on a plane immediately, in the middle of WCH, and after seven years.

 

[robertc3]

Still, something went on. You don’t just get on a plane immediately, in the middle of WCH, and after seven years.

Lots of possible reasons. I have heard there was friction between Day and Eileen, I have heard hurt feelings at being tossed away, and I can imagine many others. Unless Mike Day given a tell all interview I don't think we will ever know why he got on the plane rather than seeing out the season.

 

[RoninSkier]

87th the greatest of all time
She is a ski Goddess

 

[ski otter 2]

From his end, surely hurt feelings; but from hers, this makes sense in a way that needn't be a reflection on him or his abilities; a chance for a fresh
beginning and renewal for her, and giving her new coach an opportunity that would resonate on a larger level, for women coaches and racers, is more than enough for this to be a blame free switch - from her point of view.

(In hindsight, the timing could have been better, as it turned out.
Wish he'd had the chance to bask in the glory, of an accomplishment he played such a large role in.)

 

[markojp]

Karin got the job because she's a great coach and a pretty dialed in human. I've been introduced to her a couple of times in passing through friends. They have nothing but good things to say about her, and they've known and worked with her for years in her early career when she was a ski instructor.

 

[maple19]

(In hindsight, the timing could have been better, as it turned out.
Wish he'd had the chance to bask in the glory, of an accomplishment he played such a large role in.)

That was his doing though... if it weren’t for his ego, he would be in Soldeu right now, and he would be basking in that glory. Shiffrin did not want him to leave mid-season.

Also, for the record, Harjo wanted to leave Team Canada before Shiffrin offered her the head coach position, and Harjo made that known. Which I think says a lot about how things likely played out…

Still, something went on. You don’t just get on a plane immediately, in the middle of WCH, and after seven years.

You do if you’re that upset about being let go. Again, ego.

 

[skix]

That was his doing though... if it weren’t for his ego, he would be in Soldeu right now, and he would be basking in that glory. Shiffrin did not want him to leave mid-season.

Also, for the record, Harjo wanted to leave Team Canada before Shiffrin offered her the head coach position, and Harjo made that known. Which I think says a lot about how things likely played out…


You do if you’re that upset about being let go. Again, ego.

You can't fire me I quit! Maybe. Team Shiffrin has the right to choose the employees they want. Certainly Day wasn't entitled to lifetime tenure but also he apparently wasn't required contractually to finish the season. Tempest in a teapot. Can't blame the team for replacing him but also don't blame him for making an immediate exit instead of remaining in a lame duck role.

 

[ski otter 2]

maybe it really depended on how much he actually enjoyed just being with those folks. Wish him well; but seems like it was the best thing for Mikaela and her group anyway, free from blame for him too.

 

[wolcoma]

I have always been a fan of Mikaela Shiffrin but I think it was very poor how she and Eileen handled Coach Mike Day and his sudden departure. These USST coaches do not make a lot of money, they are on the road away from their family for many months of the year, and it's a tough job planning training, lugging gates, setting courses, coaching athletes etc. Everything is done for Mikaela and to treat coaches like that is not acceptable. Even though Mikaela may bring in the big bucks having a so called "Team Shiffrin" I think it defeats the entire purpose of having a US Ski Team. If she wants to run her own independent team like Bode Miller did for a while, that is fine, but I am not interested in donating money to the USST if the funds are going to one person and not the other athletes. Again I cheer for Mikaela every race, but I also want other USST athletes to enjoy success and be given the support they need to perform. A perfect example is the Palisades World Cup races where the entire men's team was outside the top 15 in both races. Look at the Italian and Norwegian teams as they are much more cohesive group and it shows on the score board!

 

[no edge]

We will probably never know the whole story. And the whole story could be a simple... enough already. It is common that when there is a split in business or similar, a clean break is normal.