Méribel, France (AP) — American Skiing Outstanding Michaela Shiffrin During the World Championships, she unexpectedly parted ways with her longtime coach, Mike Day, after telling her staff that she had plans to move in a new direction at the end of the season.
“Michaela wants to do something different going forward. “It’s a shock to me that he took off,” director Patrick Rimuru told the Associated Press on Wednesday.
The day she won was with Shiffrin Silver medal in Super G I accompanied the skier for a few days of offsite training in Orcières before returning with her to Méribel last week.
“He left yesterday,” Rimuru said. “He’s probably on the plane now.”
Shiffrin was scheduled to race again at her favorite events, Giant Slalom on Thursday and Slalom on Saturday.
“After working with Mike Day for seven seasons, I have decided to move forward with the team’s new leadership for the next phase of my career,” Shiffrin said. american ski team“Thank you Mike and thank you for all his work and dedication over the past few years.”
Day led Shiffrin’s individual team within the US team. Shiffrin’s team is also led by her mother, Eileen, who has coached skiers her whole life.
Shiffrin’s personal team also includes new assistant coach Mark Mitter, who is with her, Rimuru said.
Paul Christofik is the head coach of the overall US Women’s Team.
“There are a lot of people here to support Mikaela and give her the training and information she needs to do her job on race day,” Rimuru said. “She has a huge following. … Together she decides what makes the most sense moving forward.”
Day did not immediately respond to AP’s request for comment.
right in the middle of shiffrin record-breaking season Overshadowed by the World Cup circuit Lindsay Vonn’s The women’s World Cup record of 82 wins is within a win of Ingemar Stenmark’s overall mark of 86 wins.
Super G silver medal is over Shiffrin’s nasty run in a major championship race She straddled the gate during a combined slalom run in the opening round of the World Championships and failed to medal in any of her six races at last year’s World Championships. beijing olympics.
“Mikaela Shiffrin will move forward with new coaching and will continue to be closely supported by the Stifel US Alpine Ski Team coach for the remainder of the season and into the future,” the team said in a statement. Thank you for years of work and great success.”
It’s been a busy week for Shiffrin since Super G. She became the target of a small outcry from environmentalists who wanted to be helicoptered between the Gap offsite base and Orcieres’ training slopes, a 40-minute drive away.
According to Shiffrin spokeswoman Megan Harrod, Orcieres Ski Club and the Helicopter Company offered to use the helicopter, but Mitter told them from the start that he wasn’t interested.
“They were a made-up story,” Rimuru said. “She always planned to drive up and down.”
However, due to concerns over the protests, security was put in place to protect Shiffrin, said Rimuru, but Harrod added that the skiers “didn’t hear” the protests.
Rimuru said he did not believe the helicopter flaps had anything to do with Day’s departure.
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