10 SOCHI Russia — Not long after Mikaela Shiffrin became the youngest woman to win an Olympic gold in slalom she paused to consider how her life might change. "Maybe it won't change too much, maybe it will just change in the way I want it to change," she said. "I'm going to still be the same girl and still be looking for speed on the mountain."
Undoubtedly so. But Shiffrin's life is about to change in other significant ways. At 18, and as poised as she is talented, Shiffrin is a marketer's dream, experts say.
"She could become the Golden Girl of the Winter Games," said Bob Dorfman, executive creative director at Baker Street Advertising, who analyzes athletes' endorsement potential. "She could be a major story for the next two to three Winter Games. Marketers are always looking for athletes with staying power – especially in the case of Olympians, with their 'one month on, four years off' story arcs."
Mike Jaquet, chief marketing officer of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, expects the same. "America, if they don't already know who she is, will fall in love with her," Jaquet said between slalom runs. "She could really become a powerful figure coming out of here for sure."
At 18, she is 11 years younger than Lindsey Vonn, who missed these Games following her latest knee surgery. Vonn will be back next season and though they don't compete in the same events, they will be inexorably linked.
"It could make for a very interesting 'Shiffrin vs. Vonn' battle for the 2018 Games in South Korea," Dorfman said.
18-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin wins gold in women's slalom
Russia — American teenager Mikaela Shiffrin, with the poise of someone 10 years older and the talent level that perhaps only she possesses, successfully made history Friday night at the Sochi Olympics.
Shiffrin, 18, of Eagle-Vail, Colo., won the gold medal in women's slalom, beating, among others, a trio of legendary European skiers — 29-year-old Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany, 30-year-old Tina Maze of Slovenia and 32-year-old Marlies Schild of Austria.
Shiffrin was favored after taking hold of the slalom discipline on the World Cup circuit in the past year (winning three of six slalom races this season) and winning a world championship last year in Schladming, Austria, becoming the youngest woman to win an alpine skiing world title since 1985.
But, after taking a big lead in the first run in the afternoon, she still had to come through Friday night in a pressure-packed second run held under the lights, in the spotlight.
She survived a near fall about halfway through the second run in a moment that caused who knows how many gasps from those who saw it live or on TV.
"It was a pretty crazy moment there," Shiffrin said. "I went out of the start, and I was like, 'I'm going fast.' Then I went out of that flush and was like, 'I'm not gonna make it. I'm not gonna make it.' I threw on a hockey stop right there. That was a little bit tough.
"It scared me half to death."
She avoided a fall, though, was smooth on the last pitch and finished with a two-run time of 1 minute, 44.54 seconds, beating silver medalist Schild by 0.53 seconds and bronze medalist Kathrin Zettel, also of Austria, by 0.81 seconds.
Hoefl-Riesch finished fourth and Maze eighth.
Shiffrin became the youngest skier, man or woman, to win an Olympic slalom and the first U.S. woman to win the slalom at the Olympics since Barbara Cochran took the gold 42 years ago at the 1972 Winter Games.
It was the fifth medal and second gold of the Games for the U.S. ski team which, after a ragged start, has tied its second-best Winter Olympics performance, matching the five it won in 1984 — and that's without Olympic and world champion Lindsey Vonn, out with a knee injury. The all-time best performance was eight medals in Vancouver in 2010.
"I wish I could have an American flag on my back in every World Cup because that's a really cool feeling to hold that and know that you're not only representing yourself and your family or your team, but the entire country that you come from," Shiffrin said. "I owe this to so many people, and I'm so glad I could share it with them."
Not only did Shiffrin set a record for youngest Olympic slalom winner, but Schild set a record for oldest Olympic slalom medalist and also became the first woman to win slalom medals in three consecutive Olympics.
To share the podium with the legendary Schild was moving for Shiffrin.
"My first podium I was on the podium with Marlies," Shiffrin said. "She was kind of my inspiration for my slalom skiing. I always wanted to challenge her to take it a step up, to do what she does, but better. I'm just so excited to share this moment with her, too."
