Last season’s Alpine Ski World Cup champion Petra Vlhova of Slovakia said she now has the faith she needs to end Mikaela Shiffrin’s dream of winning gold at the Beijing 2022 Olympics.
The two will compete in the giant slalom on Monday ahead of their long-awaited slalom fight on Wednesday.
Petra Vlhova has won five World Cup slaloms this season and has 17 career victories in the discipline, but has never beaten Mikaela Shiffrin in a World Championship or Olympic slalom.
“Mikaela has been better than me for a long time. In recent seasons, however, I have made it clear that I can beat her often. We respect each other because we both know very well how difficult it is to become the best in the world”, said Petra Vlhova.
The American and her rival won gold in the slalom in Sochi 2014 but surprisingly failed to get on the podium four years later when Sweden’s Frida Hansdotter overtook Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener to gold.
The 26-year-old Petra Vlhova said that she has finally found the right psychological approach to the big competitions.
“Now I’m 100% mentally balanced, that was the only thing I missed before to be really the best. The season so far has been going very well for me, so I’m in a very good mental mood and physical shape and I’m totally focused. for the Olympics. I feel really strong”, added Petra Vlhova.
The Slovak was also strengthened by the top coach of Switzerland Mauro Pini, who joined her staff out of season. He previously coached double Olympic gold medalist Tina Maze of Slovenia and two-time world champion Lara Gut-Behrami of Switzerland.
“He created a very good atmosphere, allowing the team to work”, said Petra Vlhova. “Everyone knows what to do and their collaboration is great. Our communication in the team is very fruitful and there is a lot of fun among us. It’s like when a complex puzzle is completed”, concluded she.
