Mikaela Shiffrin exclusive: U.S. market "an enormous opportunity for ski racing to grow"
The double Olympic champion believes the sport could develop further if more is done to promote it in the United States: "That market is still largely untapped," she said in an exclusive interview.
Alpine Skiing
The alpine skiing World Cup series moves to North America for the U.S. and Canada stops, and all eyes are on Mikaela Shiffrin – this time more than ever.
The two-time Olympic champion is just one victory away from reaching the 100-win mark, and with the next two events taking place in Killington on 30 November and 1 December, she couldn’t dream of a better stage for making history.
In fact, nobody has won more races than Shiffrin in the Vermont resort, a place she knows well, having studied at the nearby Burke Academy.
Last year, thousands of raucous American fans celebrated her record sixth slalom victory on the Superstar course, and the 29-year-old shared how special it is to connect with her compatriots: “Ski fans in the United States are incredible fans. They're so passionate about snow sports, about the mountains, about ski racing,” she said in a recent interview with Olympics.com.
“I feel like in Europe, it's just assumed that you know skiing and you're a fan of the sport, and in the U.S., the fans that you connect with, they don't get the access to it that much. They really, really are so passionate about it.”
Mikaela Shiffrin on the opportunity to promote more skiing in the U.S.
“It’s just challenging to be a ski racing fan in the U.S.,” continued Shiffrin.
“It's hard to access the TV. It's hard to watch it when it's not primetime in the U.S. It's literally waking up in the middle of the night to watch the run.”
“They would wake up at 2am just to watch a race” - Mikaela Shiffrin to Olympics.com on U.S. ski fans
In the United States, only local World Cup races are broadcast live on linear TV, while the Austrian races are shown on cable, and the rest of the international events are available on a streaming platform.
Lindsey Vonn, in an interview with Olympics.com, also pointed out how "not a lot of people are watching ski racing in the U.S. right now."
“I think it's so important that we bring ski racing to the American fans,” reiterated Shiffrin.
The most successful skier of all time urged greater promotion of the sport in her country: “It's such an enormous opportunity for ski racing to grow. We have races in the U.S. and it's been incredible. But I would say that the market is still largely untapped.”
After Killington, Shiffrin will race two giant slaloms in Tremblant, Canada, on 7-8 December, before heading home again.
For the first time in 13 years, women are returning to Beaver Creek, the famous resort in Colorado, located just a few kilometres away from Shiffrin’s hometown of Vail.
The three-time Olympic medallist will compete on the steep Birds of Prey course for the first time. That weekend she plans to race in only the Super-G on 15 December, skipping the downhill event, as part of her season strategy to avoid building up too much fatigue: “It’s a different kind of risk to take when you are going that fast, racing at new venues. I've skied in Beaver Creek in my lifetime but I never raced on Birds of Prey for Super-G,” she admitted.
“It's exciting to be able to race in front of the hometown. It's exciting to sleep in my own bed and even get a touchpoint back in the U.S..”
She then won’t race in the U.S. again until at least March, when the World Cup Finals are scheduled in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Mikaela Shiffrin on Milano Cortina 2026: Excited to race in ‘familiar’ place
Last season, Shiffrin’s hopes of securing the overall FIS World Cup title for the sixth time were heavily hit by a crash in Cortina d’Ampezzo, which forced her to skip several weeks of competition.
In January, the American star plans to return to the Dolomites resort, which will host the women’s events at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games: “We are so much more familiar with racing in Italy, so it's going to be really refreshing to go to a place we return to every year. They're familiar with hosting the races,” she said about the Winter Olympics returning to the Alps for the first time since Torino 2006.
“It's pretty exciting to go back to a place and not have a time change or flight to take. We can actually compete where we're used to competing and feel like this is a place we should be racing.”
February 6th will mark one year until the start of those Winter Games, her fourth Olympics. Until then, her focus will be on chasing more wins, titles, and records that her fans in North America will continue to enjoy, whatever the hour.