Mikaela Shiffrin is perfect in slalom. She's got big post-Christmas plans with Olympics approaching

Mikaela Shiffrin has plenty to celebrate this Christmas.

The American skiing standout is off to a perfect start in slalom during the Olympic season — with four wins in four World Cup races. And she’s regaining her form in other disciplines, too, following the two biggest crashes of her career.

“This season so far I had the ability to like bring top level turns in those pressure moments,” Shiffrin said. “The world when they’re watching thinks there’s no pressure because I have a big lead or I did it the race before but every single time I stand in the start it’s like a new situation and I found a way so far. I found a way to dig really deep to find that quality skiing. But it’s not straightforward. It takes so much effort.”

This weekend, Shiffrin returns to the Austrian resort of Semmering where she’s claimed seven of her record 105 World Cup victories. On two occasions, Shiffrin has claimed three victories in three days in Semmering — in 2016 and in 2022.

This season there are just two races: a giant slalom on Saturday and then a slalom on Sunday.

While Shiffrin has won a record 22 World Cup giant slaloms, she hasn’t been on the podium in the discipline since before her nasty crash in Killington, Vermont, last season — which left her with a deep puncture wound in her side and severe trauma to her oblique muscles.

But Shiffrin has been getting closer in giant slalom, finishing fourth twice this season, including in the last race in Tremblant, Quebec.

“It’s just going to keep taking time,” she said. “I want to just keep improving or maybe get repetition from the slalom level.”

Shiffrin also recently entered a super-G in St. Moritz, Switzerland, for her first speed event since crashing in a downhill in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, nearly two years ago. She was on pace for a decent finish until she missed the final gate.

Still, it was progress toward her goal of possibly adding super-G to her program at the upcoming Milan Cortina Winter Olympics — where women’s Alpine skiing will be contested in Cortina.

“Even if it’s not the Olympics, super-G is a big goal of mine to return to a strong form in super-G World Cup,” Shiffrin said.

In slalom, Shiffrin’s form is so solid that she’s been able to consistently win by massive margins — an average gap of 1.5 seconds — and quickly recover from errors.

It’s quite a turnaround from the second half of last season, when Shiffrin was struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder due to her fall in Killington.

“Right now I can feel when I have a disruption in my momentum and then in my mind it is like a gas pedal,” she said of how she can turn up the pace mid-run.

One more victory in slalom and Shiffrin will match the best start to a season in her career in the discipline: She won the first five slaloms back in 2018-19.

Overall, Shiffrin has won five straight slaloms including the final race of last season. Her longest total winning streak is seven slaloms — which she has achieved twice.

Already the holder of two Olympic golds — slalom in 2014 and giant slalom in 2018 — Shiffrin could race in four events at the Olympics in Cortina: slalom, giant slalom, super-G and the new team combined.

Shiffrin and downhill teammate Breezy Johnson claimed gold in team combined at last season’s world championships.

The team combined involves one racer competing in a downhill run and then a teammate competing in a slalom run — with the times added together to determine the results.

Lindsey Vonn unsuccessfully campaigned to team with Shiffrin in combined at worlds but now has a better chance at forming a skiing “Dream Team” after her strong start this season at age 41.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin competes in an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom, in Courchevel, France, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin celebrates winning an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom, in Courchevel, France, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

FILE - United States' Mikaela Shiffrin feeds a deer on the podium after winning an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom, in Levi, Finland, on Nov. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati, File)

FILE - United States' Mikaela Shiffrin poses with Santa Claus as she celebrates on the podium after winning an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom, in Levi, Finland, on Nov. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati, File)

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 25, 2025--

Hanshow, a global leader in electronic shelf labels (ESL) and digital store solutions, has entered into a multi-year research collaboration with the University of Cambridge, one of the world’s most prestigious academic institutions. The partnership will focus on joint research and innovation in next-generation intelligent hybrid wireless technologies, marking an important milestone in Hanshow’s continued investment in core technologies and long-term innovation.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251225988816/en/

This collaboration leverages the University of Cambridge’s deep expertise in fundamental wireless technology research, alongside Hanshow’s extensive industry experience, to further strengthen multi-protocol integration capabilities and expand scalable applications across diverse retail scenarios. Guided by shared principles of innovation, collaboration, openness, and knowledge sharing, the two parties aim to accelerate the translation of cutting-edge research into real-world industrial applications, supporting intelligent solutions across multiple industries.

With a history spanning more than 800 years, the University of Cambridge is renowned as the academic home of pioneering scientists such as Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Alan Turing, and Stephen Hawking. The university has long been committed to bridging academic research and industrial practice, earning a global reputation for excellence in innovation. Its extensive expertise in intelligent sensing, smart spaces, high-precision positioning, and wireless technologies aligns closely with Hanshow’s strategy to integrate industry, academia, research, and application in driving digital transformation across retail.

Hanshow has been deeply engaged in low-power wireless communication technologies for over a decade, consistently adhering to a strategy of empowering industry applications through technological innovation. Through its proprietary HiLPC wireless communication protocol, Hanshow has built a robust wireless foundation for ESL deployments, designed to operate reliably at scale, even in complex and high-density retail environments, while maintaining ultra-low power consumption. In parallel, Hanshow actively contributes to the evolution of global communication standards. The company’s Chief Technology Officer, Ms Min Liang, has served for many years as Chair of the ESL Working Group within the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (Bluetooth SIG), underscoring Hanshow’s technological leadership and influence within the industry.

Building on its solid technological foundation and extensive industry practice, Hanshow is proactively advancing next-generation IoT paradigms, including Ambient IoT. By deeply integrating ultra-low-power wireless communication, ambient energy harvesting, and distributed sensing capabilities, Ambient IoT enables IoT systems to evolve from being merely ‘connected’ to becoming truly ‘sustainable’. This provides a new foundation for long-term, large-scale device deployment, low-cost operations, and refined operational management in retail environments, while supporting the continuous evolution of intelligent store infrastructure.

As part of this collaboration, Hanshow and the University of Cambridge will adopt a closely coordinated innovation model, combining theoretical modelling, simulation testing, and experimental validation to progressively advance the research and industrialisation of next-generation intelligent hybrid wireless technologies. On one hand, the collaboration will focus on multi-protocol integration to enhance communication efficiency and consumer interaction in retail environments. On the other hand, the outcomes will be extended beyond retail scenarios—including food, beauty, consumer electronics, and apparel—into broader domains such as smart offices and smart logistics, injecting strong technological momentum into digital transformation across industries.

This collaboration not only provides Hanshow with cutting-edge academic support for product and solution innovation, reinforcing its core competitiveness in retail technology, but also establishes a closed-loop value chain spanning fundamental research, technology development, and industrial application. The partnership aims to set a benchmark for innovative IoT solutions in retail and contribute to the sustainable development of the industry.

“This collaboration with the University of Cambridge represents a significant step forward in the development of our technology ecosystem,” said Min Liang, Chief Technology Officer of Hanshow. “By combining academic excellence with industrial innovation, we aim to push the boundaries of IoT technologies and transform advanced research into intelligent, scalable system solutions that help redefine operational excellence in global retail.”

“This partnership brings our research in intelligent hybrid wireless technologies together with Hanshow’s strong capabilities in industrial innovation,” said Dr Michael Crisp, Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge. “It gives us the opportunity to create tangible industry impact by developing low-power, high-efficiency solutions that will help usher retail store operations into the next generation of intelligent systems.”

This collaboration marks another important step in Hanshow’s global innovation ecosystem strategy. Looking ahead, Hanshow will continue to embrace open and collaborative innovation, build a sustainable global technology innovation framework, and strengthen mechanisms for industrial deployment—empowering customers across industries to navigate an increasingly competitive market with confidence and long-term resilience.

About Hanshow

Hanshow is a global leader in developing and manufacturing electronic shelf labels and digital store solutions. The company offers customers a series of customized IoT touchpoints and digital store solutions that deliver customer-centric insights. Hanshow’s solutions have provided services to a vast number of stores in over 70 countries and regions, helping them streamline operations, optimize pricing strategies, and offer customers a more personalized experience. In addition, Hanshow delivers advanced digital energy solutions, supporting clients with intelligent in-store energy optimization and integrated PV storage charging systems to reduce energy consumption, lower carbon emissions, and accelerate their transition toward sustainable operations. Learn more: www.hanshow.com

Hanshow and the University of Cambridge Launch Joint Research on Augmented Intelligent Hybrid Wireless Technology