CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland—Mikaela Shiffrin made her first big mark on Alpine skiing’s world stage Thursday.
The 15-year-old skier from Vail, Colo., won a slalom bronze medal at the junior world championships despite the lingering effects of a virus. She trailed two 19-year-olds in the in the 108-racer lineup—gold medalist Jessica Depauli of Austria and silver medalist Anna Swenn-Larsson of Sweden—.
Shiffrin, skiing at her first junior worlds, completed the two runs in 1 minute 41.27 seconds—0.95 seconds behind the winner.
“I’m happy with today,” Shiffrin said. “It wasn’t my cleanest run, but it was pretty good so I can’t complain at all.”
A student at Burke Mountain Academy in Vermont, Shiffrin has been touted as the best American prospect since Olympic champions Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso broke through a decade ago. She established a reputation with victories in her debut season on the second-tier North American Cup circuit.
“Everything so far in my career has gone pretty well,” she said.
A 24-hour virus prevented her from starting in Wednesday’s giant slalom.
“I was throwing up and wasn’t feeling too good. Today just came as a rush. I felt good enough to race and was pretty determined to at least take the first run,” she said. “Then, in the start, I realized I felt pretty good. I really couldn’t have had a better trip.”
