{"id":2455404,"date":"2020-03-05T10:39:01","date_gmt":"2020-03-05T17:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=322102"},"modified":"2020-03-05T10:39:01","modified_gmt":"2020-03-05T17:39:01","slug":"mikaela-shiffrin-announces-return-to-world-cup-ski-circuit-amid-family-grief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/mikaela-shiffrin-announces-return-to-world-cup-ski-circuit-amid-family-grief\/","title":{"rendered":"Mikaela Shiffrin announces return to World Cup ski circuit amid family grief"},"content":{"rendered":"
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United States’ Mikaela Shiffrin is fried by a US flag as she smiles on the podium after winning an alpine ski, women’s World Cup super-G, in Bansko, Bulgaria, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020.<\/strong>
AP Photo\/Giovanni Auletta<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

VAIL, Colo. \u2014 Mikaela Shiffrin is returning to the World Cup ski circuit in Europe, even though she might not be ready to race after a month-long absence following the death of her father.<\/p>\n

The American skier announced in a video posted on Instagram<\/a> that she is flying to Scandinavia on Thursday. A three-race meet starts one week later in Are, Sweden.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no promises if I\u2019ll actually be able to race,\u201d Shiffrin said in a six-minute video message that addressed the emotions about her father, Jeff, who died on Feb. 2.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no doubt that we are broken,\u201d she said of her family\u2019s grief. \u201cAccepting this new \u2018reality\u2019 is going to take a long time, and maybe we never truly will, maybe we don\u2019t have to.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere is no doubt that we are broken. Accepting this new \u2018reality\u2019 is going to take a long time, and maybe we never truly will, maybe we don\u2019t have to.\u201d \u2013 Mikaela Shiffrin<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

Shiffrin said she had trained a little but with difficulty.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been a slow process, I have struggled with being able to maintain my focus,\u201d said the two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-time defending overall World Cup champion. \u201cBut it has been therapeutic to be on the mountain. I\u2019ve found training to be a place where I can feel closer to my dad, yet it provides enough of a distraction so that feeling of \u2018closeness\u2019 can be separated from the pain.\u201d<\/p>\n

During her absence, Shiffrin has lost her lead in the overall standings to Federica Brignone. In her specialist slalom discipline, Petra Vlhova now has a small lead.<\/p>\n

Seven points-scoring events are left on the schedule in Sweden and Italy. However, the World Cup Finals races in Cortina d\u2019Ampezzo are threatened by the virus outbreak in northern Italy.<\/p>\n

The International Ski Federation plans an update Friday on the Cortina races, which could be canceled or held without fans at the venue.<\/p>\n

Shiffrin last raced on Jan. 26 when she won a super-G in Bansko, Bulgaria. The next weekend she returned to her family home in Vail to be with her father at the hospital.<\/p>\n

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View this post on Instagram<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Over the last few weeks, my family and I have received an overwhelming amount of support and love. The most kind and heartwarming messages you could imagine, checking in on us, sharing quotes and poems, song-lyrics, and telling wonderful stories about my Dad. Sometimes it feels like we are drowning in these messages, like we can\u2019t keep up with the support and love that everyone has shown, yet in so many ways it has also been our lifeline. We have not been able to respond to everything, but we want you all to know that we feel your love, and we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for sharing it with us. Many have asked how we are doing, and where we are in the \u201cgrieving process\u201d? The truth is, we haven\u2019t really even started. Accepting this new \u201creality\u201d is going to take a long time, and maybe we never truly will, maybe we don\u2019t have to. Because we can still feel him here. In our hearts, in our thoughts, in the sky and mountains and snow. He made his mark, and he is here. Many have also asked about my return to skiing and racing. I have been able to train a little bit over the last few weeks. It has been a slow process, but it has been theraputic to be on the mountain. I\u2019ve found training to be a place where I can feel closer to my dad, yet it provides enough of a distraction so that feeling of \u201ccloseness\u201d can be separated from the pain. I am flying to Scandinavia today. I have no promises if I\u2019ll actually be able to race when the time comes, and I don\u2019t really even have goals. I just hope to make a few good turns. I think that would make my dad happy. If and when I do return to competition I\u2019d ask that you continue to respect my privacy, especially as it relates to my family\u2019s heartbreak. We are so thankful for the time we had with him\u2014we cherish every single one of those moments\u2014and we will keep him here in our hearts and our memories forever. \ud83e\udd0d<\/a><\/p>\n

A post shared by Mikaela Shiffrin \u26f7\ud83d\udca8<\/a> (@mikaelashiffrin) on

In the video, Shiffrin read one of her father\u2019s favorite poems, thanked the many well-wishers who have sent messages of support, and asked that her family\u2019s privacy continues to be respected.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last few weeks, my family and I have received an overwhelming amount of support and love,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

United States’ Mikaela Shiffrin is fried by a US flag as she smiles on the podium after winning an alpine ski, women’s World Cup super-G, in Bansko, Bulgaria, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020.AP Photo\/Giovanni Auletta VAIL, Colo. \u2014 Mikaela Shiffrin is returning to the World Cup ski circuit in Europe, even though she might not be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2455404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 12:08:38","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2455404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455404\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2455404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2455404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2455404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}