CARRABASSETT VALLEY — Mikaela Shiffrin signed helmets. She signed goggles and lift tickets and whatever else was placed in front of her. Shiffrin recalled the first time she was asked for her autograph.

“It was a while ago. One of my best friend’s moms was like ‘You’re going big some day. I need your autograph.’ I’ve been practicing it because she told me to,” Shiffrin said.

Shiffrin, who celebrated her 20th birthday earlier this month, was the biggest draw at the U.S. National Alpine Championships at Sugarloaf this week. With the nations best Alpine skiers competing since Wednesday, Shiffrin was the rock star, even though she competed in just one event, Saturday’s slalom.

The best female slalom skier in the world, Shiffrin draws a crowd.

“It’s a little overwhelming. There’s a lot of people. It takes a little bit of getting used to. It’s really cool to see how many people are out here and how many people are excited about ski racing. It reminds me of what it was like for me even just a couple years ago. What it’s still like for me now,” Shiffrin said while she signed autographs after her second run. “It takes some getting used to, coming out here and people are screaming my name in different directions.”

Shiffrin was just 18 years old last year when she won the slalom gold medal at the Sochi Olympics. She recently completed a season in which she won the World Cup slalom title for the third straight season.

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On Saturday, she was the most dominate athlete of the week.

Shiffrin’s first run time of 45.38 seconds gave her a 2.62 second lead over second place Paula Moltzan. Throughout the second runs, every skier who took the lead had to know she was only holding Shiffrin’s place. Until Shiffrin went last, any lead was less fleeting than a blink.

Shiffrin’s second run was 47.64 seconds. Her overall time was 1:33.02, 4.31 seconds better than Moltzan’s distant second place. In a sport where success is measured by a hundreth of a second, 4.31 seconds is a block past forever.

The racing is the easy part. The attention is what Shiffrin is getting used to.

“I guess it was after the Olympics, really. That’s when it really started, when people were recognizing me more often. Even now, it’s mostly just at ski areas and people who pay attention to ski racing,” Shiffrin said. “I don’t think I’m ever going to think of myself as on the other side of this. I’m still star-struck. I’m still looking at my heros and trying to get inspiration from them. I think we’re all really in the same position.”

It’s not just attention from fans. Younger skiers, athletes just a few years younger than Shiffrin, ask her for advice.

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“That’s a little bit surreal. Sometimes I’m not sure what to tell them. ‘Honestly, I don’t have that much more life experience than you. I’m traveled a little bit more. I can tell you, kind of, how to handle the jet lag,’ but otherwise there’s not much I can say,” Shiffrin said.

Saturday’s win was Shiffrin’s fourth national title, her third in the slalom. On Sunday, she’ll watch her brother, Taylor Shiffrin, compete in the men’s slalom. Next week, she’ll visit family in Massachusetts. Her time at the national championships was brief, but fun, Shiffrin said.

“I get to see all my old friends. Kind of getting back to the roots. Of course, there’s so many kids here who are looking to be inspired. It’s good to be a part of this,” Shiffrin said. “I see a bit of myself in all of these kids. It was not so long ago that I showed up for U.S. Nationals for my first time, and thinking ‘I don’t know if I can do well here.’ Since that first nationals, it’s been going quite quickly.

“These kinds of races, they mean a lot because of who comes. It’s the next generation of skiers who shows up and watches and hopefully gets inspired by all the racing, not just me, not just U.S. Ski Team athletes.”

Somebody pointed out to Shiffrin that at age 20, she is the next generation of skier. She paused and thought about that for a second. Then, Shiffrin smiled as wide as she could, and went back to signing autographs.

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM


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