Only seconds in and ski racer Mikaela Shiffrin was nearly out of breath.
The two-time Olympic champion quickly settled into a rhythm and breezed through her rendition of a song popularized by Amy Winehouse in front of a social media audience tuned in for a recent online fundraising concert.
Different stage. Same strong performance.
FILE - In this Jan. 14, 2020, file photo, United States' Mikaela Shiffrin embraces Italy's Livio Magoni, coach of Slovakia's Petra Vlhova, after completing an alpine ski women's World Cup slalom race in Flachau, Austria. When she's not winning races, two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin unplugs by singing and playing guitar. Music was always a bond she shared with her late father, Jeff, who died on Feb. 2 after an accident at his home in Edwards, Colorado. (AP PhotoGiovanni Auletta, File)
When she’s not winning races, Shiffrin unplugs by singing and playing guitar. Music was always a passion she shared with her late father, Jeff, who died on Feb. 2 after an accident at his home in Colorado.
“Honestly, it’s a way to essentially not think about anything,” said Shiffrin, who announced a partnership Tuesday with Madison Keys as she joined the tennis standout in their lineup of “Champions” for “ Kindness Wins,” a platform with the mission of spreading good will. “I’m a ski racer. I’m not a musician. But I love it.”
Growing up, her father played the piano, guitar, french horn and trumpet. He enjoyed anything by Jimmy Buffett or the Beach Boys.
FILE - In this Dec. 7, 2019, file photo, second place finisher Mikaela Shiffrin, left, of the United States, celebrates following a women's World Cup downhill ski race in Lake Louise, Alberta. (Jeff McIntoshThe Canadian Press via AP, File)
Their favorite song? Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al.” Shiffrin posted part of the lyrics from the tune on her Instagram account on April 2: “If you’ll be my bodyguard, I can be your long lost pal.” The accompanying picture was a young Shiffrin leaning into her father.
The second part of her post: “Please come home.”
“The thing you always wish for is more time, right?” said the 25-year-old Shiffrin, who has been training during the coronarivus pandemic at home in Edwards, Colorado. “Just more time with the people that you love.”
Shiffrin lost her grandmother in October. Pauline Mary Condron was 98. That was a reason why her mom/coach, Eileen, took a break from traveling with her on the circuit last season.
“I’m grateful," Shiffrin said, “that she was able to be home with my dad a little bit more."
Less than four months later, Shiffrin traveled home from Europe to Colorado in order to be with her father after he suffered a head injury. He died at 65. Jeff was an anesthesiologist and a former ski racer at Dartmouth who often could be seen at races with his camera around his neck in order to take photos of his daughter.
Shiffrin took a six-week break from the circuit. She returned in Are, Sweden, but the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak before she could race again. Federica Brignone of Italy captured the overall crown, ending Shiffrin’s three-year reign.
Really, though, being there was more about a feeling.
“I got back to the state of mind that I needed to be in to be able race,” she said. "I wanted to stand in the start gate of a World Cup again.”
For races, she gets fired up by listening to a particular song (like Eminem's “Guts Over Fear” featuring Sia). The musical routine has served her well as she’s won two Olympic gold medals, five world championship titles and 66 World Cup races. That's within striking distance of Lindsey Vonn's 82 victories, which is the all-time mark among female ski racers.
Like most sports, the upcoming World Cup season could be affected by the pandemic (the calendar is set to be confirmed next week). Traditionally, the season starts with men’s and women’s giant slalom races in Soelden, Austria, in late October.
Whenever it starts, her mom/coach will be by her side.
“I couldn’t imagine her being home alone,” Shiffrin said. “She supports me in every way that a mother possibly can -- and more. It’s still really, really overwhelming.”
Music has long been her getaway. She writes her own lyrics, including a song inspired by the factory workers at Barilla (her sponsor) in Italy and dedicated to frontline workers.
She performs, too.
Last month, Shiffrin opened an online concert for “ Goggles for Docs,” a program that provides ski goggles to healthcare workers. Shiffrin performed Winehouse's version of “Valerie” before turning the screen over to musician KT Tunstall.
Shiffrin's constantly experimenting with sound. She will post guitar riffs from such songs as Guns N’ Roses' “Sweet Child O’ Mine” or try a version of Billy Joel’s “ Vienna ” on the keyboard.
“Music is supposed to make people feel good,” said Shiffrin, whose mom also is into music. “I’m not Lady Gaga, but if it puts a smile on their face, that’s the whole point.”
Right along with nurturing her passion for songs and the slopes, her father instilled an important credo: To be nice. Always.
Shiffrin is putting that axiom into action through “ Kindness Wins,” an organization that started earlier this year and acts as an umbrella for kindness initiatives. The foundation recently featured “Kindness In Crisis,” an online auction led by Keys, Shiffrin, cross-country skier Jessie Diggins and mountain bike racer Kate Courtney. They raised money for COVID-19 relief through signed hats, uniforms and other memorabilia. .
“Being kind to people,” Shiffrin said, “that’s something that doesn’t go out of style.”
ST. LOUIS (AP) — On the ice, Amber Glenn was putting together another brilliant free skate, landing the opening triple axel that has become her hallmark and eventually putting the final touches on a program destined to earn her a third consecutive U.S. Figure Skating title.
Off the ice, Alysa Liu was cheering her on.
With her newly dyed halo hairdo going viral, Liu had stuck around after her own spectacular showing inside of the packed Enterprise Center, and she didn't seem to care Friday night that Glenn was about to push the reigning world champion to the silver medal.
“She trains so hard,” Liu said, “and to skate a clean program, it's so deserving.”
Glenn ultimately finished with 233.55 points to become the first back-to-back-to-back national champ since Michelle Kwan's last title in 2005, while Liu wound up second with 228.91 points. Isabeau Levito earned the bronze medal with 224.45 points and, more than likely, the final women's spot on the American squad headed for the Winter Games.
The official team announcement comes Sunday.
“I felt like I was going to throw up. My stomach has been bothering me all day. Woof,” Glenn said. “Fake it 'till you make it. I took that to heart. I was just trying to get in touch with my body and get a feel for the ice, and I think my years of experience kicked in.”
Earlier in the night, Alisha Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov defended their pairs title despite a couple of mistakes, including a scary moment when Mitrofanov was nearly clipped by Efimova’s skate. They finished with 207.71 points to outdistance Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, who were second with 197.12, and the team of Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman.
Now comes a nervous wait to see whether Efimova and Mitrofanov can compete at the Olympics.
While he is a U.S. citizen, born in Wisconsin and raised in Texas, the 26-year-old Efimova was born in Finland and has competed for Germany and Russia along with her native country. Only citizens of the nation they represent are eligible for the Olympics, though, and while Mitrofanov and Efimova are married and she has a green card, she has not received an American passport yet.
The Skating Club of Boston, where the couple trains, has been working with U.S. senators and U.S. Figure Skating officials to get the three-year waiting period for citizenship expedited. But time is running out before Sunday’s deadline to announce the team.
The Americans have qualified the maximum three women’s spots on the Olympic team.
They only have two spots in pairs.
Efimova and Mitrofanov would get one, should her citizenship get approved at the last minute. Kam and O'Shea are near locks to make their first Olympic team, while McBeath and Parkman are unable to go because he likewise does not have U.S. citizenship.
That could leave U.S. Figure Skating to make a judgment call on the second pairs team it sends to the Milan Cortina Games.
Emily Chan and Spencer Howe rallied from eighth after a difficult short program to finish fourth with 186.52 points Friday night, while the up-and-coming team of Audrey Shin and Balazs Nagy were less than two points behind in fifth place.
Yet ahead of them all were Efimova and Mitrofanov, the clear-cut best of American pairs skating.
Their free skate, set to “Where Do I Begin?” from the 1970 Arthur Hiller romantic drama “Love Story," was intended to be a tribute to two-time Olympic champions Katia Gordeeva and Sergey Grinkov, who was just 28 when he died of a heart attack in 1995.
Efimova and Mitrofanov opened with a beautiful triple twist, but then a sequence went awry after their triple salchow when he fell during a double axel, and Efimova nearly wiped his forehead with her skate blade. She also struggled on their side-by-side triple toe loops later in the program, but a strong finishing sequence left no doubt that they would repeat as champions.
Then it was the women's turn to take center stage.
Levito was up first among the American “big three,” performing with her trademark balletic style in a sparkly blue dress to music from the 1988 Italian coming-of-age film “Cinema Paradiso” — just image that on the ice in Milan next month.
Her free skate score represented a season-best and thrust Levito into first place.
“First time competing at nationals in an Olympic year being age-eligible for the Olympics, so there was extra pressure,” the 18-year-old Levito said. “I was happy that I could rely on my training to get me through my program.”
Liu clapped when Levito's score was read amid her own warm-up, then ripped through the debut of her new free skate set to a medley of Lady Gaga songs. It was a performance every bit as good as Liu's showing at the world championships in Boston last year, when she became the first American to stand atop the podium in two decades.
The pressure was on Glenn to respond. And did she ever.
From her opening triple axel, the only 3 1/2-revolution jump that any of the medal contenders attempted, to the final chords of music, the 26-year-old from Plano, Texas, had the crowd on its feet. Glenn skated off to a standing ovation, then broke down in tears along with her coach, Damon Allen, when her huge score was read over the arena loudspeakers.
She was soon joined in the kiss-and-cry area by Liu and Levito, the likely U.S. triumvirate for the Milan Cortina Games, who will be trying to earn the American women their first medal since 2006 — and perhaps their first gold since 2002.
“If we do our jobs in Milan,” Glenn said, “then more than likely someone is going to be up there.”
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Isabeau Levito competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Alysa Liu waits for her scores after competing during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Isabeau Levito competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Isabeau Levito competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Alysa Liu competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Alysa Liu competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Amber Glenn reacts to seeing her scores after competing during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Amber Glenn reacts to seeing her scores after competing during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Katie McBeath and Daniil Parkman compete during the pairs free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea compete during the pairs free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea compete during the pairs free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov compete during the pairs free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Misha Mitrofanov lifts his partner Alisa Efimova after they took first place to win the pairs free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov compete during the pairs free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
