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Mikaela Shiffrin

BrianB

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Wait, Telemark is a sport?
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
 

Rich_Ease_3051

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This is about the only valid point. But it's not really an MS issue. Belongs in this thread.


Over the years, there have probably been several athletes who have utterly dominated their respective competition, but they have participated in sports that just don't get the publicity of the NBA, MLB, NFL, etc. So most Americans have never heard of them, or hear of them only at the Olympics.

Michael Phelps probably won races outside the Olympics, but nobody knows about them.
Katie Ledecky (sp?) seems to set another World Record every time she enters the pool.
South Korea has dominated archery competitions for decades.
Googling a list of "dominant athletes you've never heard of" brings up quite a selection.

Mikaela's certainly not alone in competing in relative obscurity in her own country. The Washington Post has had a few articles on her 85/86/87 countdown; judging by the number of comments on those articles compared to comments on any other sport -- most people just don't care.

Readers of this forum aren't "most" people.

I think geepers it's a valid discussion point on what makes an athlete marketable. Fans in this thread are scratching their heads why MS isn't. Clearly it's not just being the winning-est athlete that gives one broad appeal as KevinF pointed out.

I think many stars have to align for a winning-est athlete to have broad mass market appeal. In the modern era, that means genuine social media engagement by the athlete. Good looks always helps as well (Layne Beachly was the winning-est female Aussie surfer but earned less than a McDonald's worker because of her less than good looks). Being a good role model, as MS appears to be, doesn't necessarily translate to mass appeal (as exemplified by the the likes of Floyd Mayweather who chose to be a "heel"/bad buy on the latter stage of his career to hype up fights).

In the American sports paradigm, winning cures all. Tiger Woods can be a dick in his personal life. It didn't matter as he won on the green. Fans (and Nike) forgave his transgressions because winning solves everything.

In the case of MS, I think her mass appeal is being hampered by the restriction of content. At the end of the day, it's called spectator sport. If fans cannot "spectate" the sport content easily, then they lose interest and not bother. Sport content is first and foremost. The social media content can follow. But without the sport content, there's nothing to make an emotional connection to the athlete.
 
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SBrown

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No, not a bad man. A black man dealing with the relentless, illegal, unjust hell for black men in America, successfully. Against the wishes of the top coaches, he did pull them out of tournaments the same way Mikaela's parents did, for them to have a life. He would have found other practice partners (instead of the endless, joyless junior tournaments), if he'd only had one girl, an only child. Maybe that would have succeeded, maybe not: but that is an alternate reality, not the hand he and his family were dealt, which is the one he handled/handles so incredibly, warts and all.

I was going to acknowledge that, but I didn't want to get into it. I'll just say that I know multiple coaches who have witnessed the physical abuse, and leave it at that. Two wrongs don't make a right.
 

maple19

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I will be very surprised if she does not continue racing until the next Olympics in 2026. She will be only 30. She is currently at the top of her game and will probably be at over 100 wins before then.
I saw an article in Blick yesterday that said “insiders” say she wants to retire after Saalbach (WSC in 2025) with Kilde - alluding to them planning some sort of joint exit. I obviously wouldn’t give much credence to it, but I found it odd because I assumed that Kilde at least would hang on until 2026? He’s older than her but in the best form of his life right now, and he’s yet to win Olympic gold, so I would’ve thought he’d want one last shot... Just a weird rumor.

For what it’s worth she has said this year that she hopes to be in Cortina.
 

Mark1975

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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
It is totally crazy. I have a tele setup for fun. Basically cruse around on it when I get bored. Even ran NASTAR on it for fun back in the day. They have a race called the Classic. Full length WC GS with speeds up to 50 mph, with the jump, the 360 turn and a long skate section (called the puke zone). Then one day I decide if they can do it, so can I. So I run a FIS GS practice course at Sugarloaf, hit the head wall on Narrow Gage, do a faceplant and dislocate my shoulder. Never again. Much respect for the nuts who do it on the WC.
 
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fatbob

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MS's overall problem* is skiing's one. A) most participants don't care much for ski racing and B) she's a privileged winner in a privileged niche sport which the general public don't really relate to.

I might add C) She's a woman so would never get the column inches Tiger and and a first round draft QB would get.

*Of course it's not really a problem. She has all the acclaim that goes with the sport in Europe which of course is a drop in the ocean compared to football. The fact that the US sporting landscape is even more dominated by major leagues is just an incremental factor.
 
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Seldomski

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Way to go Mikaela! Now win a WC race with boa boots to cement your status as GOAT! No one else has done it. ;-)
 

JCF

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For me, American football, despite the amazing skills has become unwatchable. Basketball....not since the 80's Celtics/LA rivalry. Baseball and golf ? - can't/don’t want to sit still long enough to get through a game/match. Hockey, I just don't get it. Do like 6 Nations Rugby and Football. And I love surfing, but surf contests ???? ridiculous !!!

Ski racings lack of acceptance is both understandable - and irrelevant to me. It is a beautiful sport, as all are to those who like what they like. MS is, like all the greats something more than just the "best". That she is also someone who seems to be grounded, of healthy mind, and anti-drama makes her even more interesting and impressive to me.
That stuff also makes her less interesting to some who want the drama or to see the dark side of everything. And I imagine if she was in a more widely watched sport she would be chewed up and spat out after the charm or wins - or someone more interesting came along, or just for the entertainment of it ($)
 

Swede

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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

The 1930's called and wanted its skis back.
 

4ster

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ski otter 2

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I was going to acknowledge that, but I didn't want to get into it. I'll just say that I know multiple coaches who have witnessed the physical abuse, and leave it at that. Two wrongs don't make a right.
I can respect this, and it's sad to me. But on a wider level, there's a lot more to it, way beyond the scope here. Most people just don't know.
 

Uncle-A

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Uncle A -

There is not a bigger fan of MS than I am -

" Best Racer ever." < my opinion.


the question was excellence -
My list were examples of excellence > There has been plenty ( of excellence )

( it's actually kind of cute that you dismiss Brady for 'only winning six Super Bowls' And it took twenty years (!)


I think he's won seen of ten , and
next is four.


the beloved Packers won five championships in seven years
( the 1960s is Not sixty years. )


pretty-sure this was MS' fifth Overall ;
Anne-marie won six - and retired at twenty-six - but

hey. You do You.


skiJ

I understand - You Want Results.

but to me , from my perspective,

Skiing has had no finer ambassador than Stein Erickson -
As an example of Excellence , Stein Erickson was IT for generations. period.

G'Bye
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.
 

Uncle-A

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I can.
I don't even have to leave FIS to find one.
Amelie Wenger-Reymond of Switzerland
11x Overall Champ
34 Crystal Globes
World Cup: 224 Starts, 214 Podiums, 163 Wins
World Champs: 24 Starts, 24 podiums, 16 Wins

...and you think Mikaela has an achievement recognition problem...
Thanks for sharing, this is quite an accomplishment. Unfortunately I had to look up the name because it definitely is not on a lot of people's radar.
 

robertc3

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U.S. Ski & Snowboard announced today the return of Karin Harjo to the Stifel U.S. Alpine Ski Team as head coach of the winningest woman alpine skier of all time, Mikaela Shiffrin.
I certainly understand why this is getting lost in the thread, but it is a big deal. The greatest alpine racer of all time just hired a woman to coach her. That is big news in a sport where men have dominated the coaching ranks forever.
 

Rich_Ease_3051

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Rich_Ease_3051

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Her Beijing failure, which I finally found a snippet of in Tiktok of all places, would have been a great arc for curious fans to relate to her.


It's a real story of adversity that she's most known for for those new to the Mikaela hype. And the powers that be shunning this video for some reason, made curious fans less curious. Not a good move for a sport that struggles for viewership with the other sports leagues.
 
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