Karin Harjo is Mikaela Shiffrin’s head coach
On Saturday, March 11, the American alpine skier achieved her 87th victory, setting a new World Cup record. In April, Harjo will leave her position as national coach at Alpine Canada to join the Shiffrin team.
Mikaela Shiffrin is creating waves off the ski hill after making history on it over the course of the previous weekend.
On Saturday, March 11, in Are, Sweden, the two-time Olympic champion broke Ingemar Stenmark’s record of 1989 by winning her 87th World Cup. This made her the all-time greatest alpine skier.
The American, who turned 28 on Monday, March 13, disclosed that Karin Harjo will take over as her head coach starting in April. Harjo is resigning from her position as national coach for women’s Alpine Canada.
Harjo, a seasoned coach in the global arena, began working with the American squad in 2015. She is the second female head coach in history and the only one on the World Cup circuit right now.
She assisted Lindsey Vonn in winning the bronze medal in the downhill at PyeongChang 2018, and in 2021 she worked as Shiffrin’s assistant on the American squad. It was little over a year ago that she was chosen to her current position at the Canadian team.
In a news statement from U.S. Ski & Snowboard, Shiffrin stated, “I’m really looking forward to working with Karin again, this time more directly as my new head coach.” She was on the women’s tech team and, more recently, the speed team, so I got to work with her occasionally throughout my career. She has an extraordinary work ethic, gets along well with other coaches, and—above all—shows a strong bond and commitment to her athletes.
She went on: “I believe she can add a huge benefit to my program in the coming years and will provide a fresh and new way of thinking as we move forward.”