Mikaela Shiffrin is gearing up for another high-stakes campaign as she returns to Levi, Finland, this weekend for the opening women’s slalom races of the 2025–26 World Cup season. With the Winter Olympics on the horizon, every turn, result, and technical adjustment carries added weight, and Shiffrin enters the new year with both momentum and expectation firmly on her shoulders.
Levi has long been one of Shiffrin’s most successful hunting grounds. The American star has collected a record number of reindeer, the symbolic prize awarded to each Levi slalom winner and will be chasing yet another podium to set the tone for the Olympic season. After a summer focused on refining her technique and strengthening her physical conditioning, Shiffrin arrives in Finland confident but aware of the challenges ahead.
The competition will be fierce. Rising talents like Petra Vlhová, Lena Dürr, and Zrinka Ljutić are expected to push the pace, determined to disrupt Shiffrin’s dominance in the discipline she has long ruled. The early-season conditions in Levi, often characterized by crisp Arctic cold and hard, compact snow, typically reward the most precise technicians terrain where Shiffrin historically thrives.
Beyond the immediate stakes of the World Cup standings, the races serve as an important benchmark in the lead-up to the 2026 Winter Olympics. Every athlete in the field is already looking toward the Games, using Levi as an early test of form, strategy, and mental readiness. For Shiffrin, the goal is simple: start strong, build confidence, and establish a rhythm that can carry her through a demanding season.
As the gates drop in Levi, all eyes will be on the sport’s biggest star to see whether she can once again set the standard in slalom and begin her Olympic year with authority.
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