Meet the team that helped Mikaela Shiffrin achieve alpine ski history
Who are the individuals behind the double Olympic champion’s success? Where are they from? How have they contributed to her wins and how close is their relationship? Olympics.com reached out to them to find out.
Alpine Skiing
Over the last decade Mikaela Shiffrin has rewritten alpine skiing’s history books and pushed boundaries in the sport.
But behind that success is a hard-working team who ensure that she performs to the peak of her capabilities, while also motivating and protecting her when needed.
These individuals include her mother Eileen, the US Ski and Snowboard coaching staff, technicians, her agent and her publicist.
After the sudden departure of her long-time coach Mike Day, the double Olympic champion will rely even more on the support of ‘a tight group, a family’, as she described it.
Let’s have a closer look at 'Team Shiffrin'.
Team Shiffrin: The key members
Paul Kristofic – US Ski Team women’s head coach: The Canadian has worked with Shiffrin for longer than the others having joined the US Alpine Women’s Programme in 2015, and is significantly embedded into her everyday training plans.
“We have long, full days and what a lot of people don’t see – they see the one-and-a-half minutes on a race track, but it really is a 12-hour day or more,” he recently told TeamUSA.org.
“To keep winning and skiing at a high level takes a tremendous amount of planning, focus and energy on everybody’s part, primarily on Mikaela,” the coach added.
Mark Mitter – Assistant Coach: The 46-year-old from Ramsau, Austria, joined Shiffrin’s team in the summer of 2022 after spending eight seasons working with record eight-time overall World Cup winner Marcel Hirscher alongside Michael Pircher.
"I was in the background, I was able to learn for eight years, all the pressure was on Mike. But I know what a superstar needs," the Styrian was quoted as saying by Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung.
Mitter, whose brother Christian works as a coach for the Norwegian Ski Federation, in the same interview explained the demands of looking after one of the best alpine skiers of all time: "Her day is extremely well-scheduled, she has twelve hours a day planned during the racing season, with training, physiotherapy, media - and she also needs sleep. We in the team have to make sure to create the conditions she needs and to keep everything as efficient as possible."
Eileen Shiffrin – Coach: A constant presence at her daughter's side both as a mother and a coach since Mikaela was three years old.
A studious and meticulous woman who loves video-analysis, she’s been instrumental for the career of the multiple-time world champion. “Probably one of the factors that has made a difference between my career and anybody else is having her to keep me on track, to help me stay sane, to be my best friend, to be my mum, to be my coach,” Shiffrin told CNN in an interview.
Regan Dewhirst – Physical Therapist: "I had the opportunity to start working with Mikaela in 2018 when she and her mum asked if I would be interested in joining the tour,” the University of Vermont graduate said about her first stint with the US Ski Team.
Dewhirst's job is to prepare Shiffrin's body and mind for her gruelling training regime with gym routines, breathing exercises, and visualisation.
She’s known Mikaela since she was nine: “Back then, she was smiley, goofy, always dancing, and humbly beating us at everything,” she remembers.
“Despite all of her success, she’s still the same bubbly person now as she was then. As a PT on her team, her kindness, humour, attention to detail, and overall grit make her one of the most rewarding athletes I’ve had the chance to work with."
Bob Poehling – Strength and conditioning coach: Primarly based in Park City, Utah, he’s part of the US Ski and Snowboard’s High Performance Staff and occasionally travels to some races.
He prepares Shiffrin’s conditioning programmes and frequently interacts with Mikaela, both in person and remotely: “I'm living my dream of using science to help sport performances in a small way,” he said.
Robert Bürgler and Lukas Rottinger – Service men: Equipment plays a key role in alpine skiing where margins are measured by hundredths of a second. Having the right people to prepare skis is crucial, given the unique and often changing conditions of each track.
Robert and Lukas work for Austrian ski manufacturer Atomic and are a recent addition to the team, replacing longtime serviceman Johann Strobl.
While Burgler helps the American handle her tech ski setup, Rottinger specialises in the speed equipment.
Kilian Albrecht – Agent: A two-time Winter Olympian (he missed out on a bronze medal in the slalom at Salt Lake City 2002 by just 0.04 seconds), the 49-year-old Austrian met Mikaela when she was 14 and was immediately mesmerised by her skills.
"Mikaela was the first athlete I signed and it has been an incredible journey the last 12 years. She is an incredible athlete and an even better human being. Very kind, super professional and a dream two work with," he told us.
Megan Harrod – Public Relations/Advisor: The Minnesota native has been witnessing Shiffrin’s achievements since early in her career, first as a press officer for the US Ski Team, and from this season as her PR advisor.
"I've been working with Mikaela for nine seasons now, and I can honestly say I've never seen someone so good at their craft simultaneously so real, kind and caring to so many,” she told Olympics.com.
“That's a nearly impossible balance to strike, yet somehow—like most other things she does—she finds a way. From the beginning, Mikaela took an uncharted path, doing it her way, and continues to explore that territory as she rewrites history.
"She lives and leads by example in her classy, humble, introverted, yet badass way. For me, it's so fun to play a small role on her team, and have the ability to witness history.”
Harrod added: “Mikaela is a part of this generation of champions (along with athletes like Iga Swiatek), who are kind and humble, stand up for what's right, speak out against social injustice, lift their competitors and rivals up—in defeat or victory—and aren't afraid to talk about mental health. No matter what amazing feats Mikaela is reaching on the mountain, she's always been authentic and relatable off the mountain.
“That is why I love working with her. She's never one to bask in the spotlight, and instead has learned how to use that spotlight to shine a light on to others. She's also learned that pressure is a privilege, and didn't let Olympic disappointment cloud her vision on her uncharted path."