Mikaela Shiffrin at Atomic Media Day: “I’m Not Closing Any Doors” on Slalom

Mikaela Shiffrin took the stage at Atomic Media Day in Austria on Friday for her first extended public remarks since announcing a new approach to the 2026-27 season. In the on-stage interview, the American said her team is in a good place, that the reaction to her plan has been kinder than she expected, and that slalom will “always feel like home” even as she shifts her focus to giant slalom and Super-G.

• Related: Mikaela Shiffrin Declares 2026-27 as ‘Season of Exploration’ With Fewer Slalom Races

Healthy, With One Wonky Toe

Asked to rate her physical preparation from 1 to 10, Shiffrin straight out said an 8, qualifying the statement with, “I almost never rank anything at 10.” She said she had no pains and no injuries, but jokingly added that she had a “pretty serious dodgeball injury” to her toe, then said she was only half kidding. The toe is “all wonky now,” she said, “but it’s fine.”

Two Short Camps in Chile

Shiffrin said she completed two camps in Chile, and both ran shorter than planned. She explained that Chile has been getting heavy snow while Europe has had little, so the team was “trying to escape some of the snowstorms.”

“I had some productive days,” she said. “I would like to have a few more before Sölden.” She rated her ski feel “like six with potential for improvement,” and praised her coaches and ski service for managing the logistical challenges of a rather odd summer season that saw all of Europe’s glacier ski areas close. The World Cup season opens in just two-and-a-half weeks with the women’s giant slalom in Sölden, Austria, on October 24 — so not a lot of time to squeeze in more training.

New Faces, New Equipment Questions

Shiffrin further explained that there had been some changes to her team. Her mother and coach Eileen Shiffrin will travel less than in the past and that Shiffrin also has a new physical therapist. In addition, she has a new ski technician in her Atomic service team. “I feel very optimistic about the whole thing,” Shiffrin summed up her team changes.

The new plan, announced on Tuesday on the social media channels of her podcast What’s the Point, has Shiffrin racing fewer slaloms this winter and putting more training time into giant slalom and Super-G. She said one reason for shifting her schedule is having “the energy and the space to focus on giant slalom and super-G, where I feel like I can find out what’s possible.” Part of that, she explained, is working through equipment questions she did not have time to explore in recent years.

“I’m just trying some different options for boot setup,” she said, noting the skis have been pretty consistent. “When you try different equipment setups or little small adjustments, you realize how many things you can change, and now I have to zone in again.”

“You Do You”

Shiffrin announced the plan in a video as well as social media post on Tuesday, October 6. She said she expected people to call her crazy. Instead, the response so far has been “You do you,” she said with a big thumbs up. She was pleased to say that thus far no one had questioned or misinterpreted her decision.

She wanted to be careful about one message in particular, which she also mentioned in her video and Instagram post. “Nothing about ski racing is easy,” she said. “Slalom is not easy, and this is not to find a better challenge. It’s not actually about challenge, it’s just about finding out about something that feels a little bit uncertain right now.” She also had respect for her rivals: “If I look at the competition, these women are incredible, they’re fast, they work incredibly hard, and there’s no world where I would take that for granted.”

With 73 wins in slalom and nine discipline season globes, the move to cutting her best discipline and focussing on giant slalom and super-G surely could raise a few eyebrows. But Shiffrin said she hopes her approach can encourage others to follow what makes them curious, even when the outcome is unclear. “It might not be winning races, because I really don’t know what the potential is at this point,” she said. “But I know how hard I will work when I’m motivated. I know how strong and powerful I can be when I’m curious.”

The Slalom Plan: Killington, Then We’ll See

On her calendar, Shiffrin confirmed that her first slalom will be at Killington, Vermont. Other slalom starts are not fixed, and that includes the slalom at the World Championships in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, in February.

“I’m not closing any doors,” she said. “As much as I love and care about slalom, I think it’s always going to feel like home, and I think I’m going to visit a bit. We’ll just see how this feels for this season.”

An Update on Aleksander Aamodt Kilde

Shiffrin closed the interview with an update on her partner, Norwegian speed skier Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who could not attend as he is training in South America. She said he is doing “really well” and feels far more comfortable in his body than he did a year ago.

“He’s learning to function with this new shoulder situation,” she said. “It’s limiting and it will be limiting forever, but he’s finding a way to work with that, to be strong and to keep getting stronger. I’m so impressed by him.”

She said she is looking forward to watching him at the start of the season but also appealed to all her fans and supporters to send good vibes to her fiancé. “Please cross your fingers or hold your thumbs or whatever you do for good luck,” she told the crowd, “because this man deserves some luck and the ability to really, really enjoy ski racing a little bit longer.”