But not Vonn

“I’m honored!” Shiffrin reveals her team partner

Mikaela Shiffrin(Bild: GEPA)

Mikaela Shiffrin will not be teaming up with Lindsey Vonn at the World Ski Championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm after all! No, the slalom queen has accepted an offer from downhill world champion Breezy Johnson. The US-American revealed this on Instagram early Monday morning. However, she will not be competing on the RTL.

"After she became world champion in the downhill on Saturday, Breezy said to me: 'If you want to do the TC, it would be an honor to ride with you. Not because of the medal, but because this sport is so much fun, and it would be great to come full circle after all these years." What a wise woman," said Shiffrin.

"We are friends"
The seven-time world champion also explains why she is happy to accept the offer - and forgo Vonn's: "Breezy and I have been racing together since we were 11 years old. We were together at the Whistler Cup and the Topolino. We were roommates, competitors and friends. And she's right ... it will be so cool to come full circle. What a journey she has been on ... she knows the mental challenges of this sport better than anyone. She fought tooth and nail to get here and now she's a world champion.... Her journey, her courage and her determination have inspired me immensely. I'm very honored to be working with her on our small Team Atomic (*USA) for my first start in Saalbach 2025."

Vonn, meanwhile, was paired with AJ Hurt, but was apparently less than pleased about it, as she reported in a post on X.

Breezy Johnson(Bild: Sepp Pail)

Shiffrin suffered a deep wound to her stomach in a fall in the Killington giant slalom at the end of November and even had to undergo surgery as a result. The 29-year-old made her comeback on January 30, finishing tenth in the Courchevel slalom.

Corinne Suter(Bild: GEPA)

Many top-class pairings
Just as surprisingly, the 33-year-old Gut-Behrami, who failed to medal in the downhill (retirement) and super-G (8th), will be competing with Holdener as one of the top favorites. Another pairing is Corinne Suter with Camille Rast. As announced on Sunday, Austria will be represented by Mirjam Puchner/Katharina Liensberger, Cornelia Hütter/Katharina Huber, Stephanie Venier/Katharina Truppe and Christina Ager/Katharina Gallhuber.

The downhill will be raced first (10 am), in the slalom (1.15 pm) the fastest 30 will start in the same order as in the technical World Cup. The times of the downhill and slalom racers will be added together. The team combination was held for the first time at the 2023 Junior World Championships in St. Anton and met with a positive response.