Mikaela Shiffrin said Monday that she was focusing entirely on trying to bag a third straight world slalom title and also medalling in the giant slalom in St Moritz, while admitting to future prospects of her as an all-round skier. The 21-year-old currently tops both the World Cup slalom and overall standings, but despite an excellent fifth-placed finish in the Cortina super-G last week, has opted out of competing in the speed event and the alpine combined at the worlds which run until Feb. 19. "It's better that I focus on training, rest and the races I have my best shot of getting medals in," Shiffrin said, adding that there was a joke within the US team that she was a "fair-weather speed skier". Her Cortina result was "an incredible result" on a "spectacular surface", she added, explaining that the track in St Moritz was more variable given heavy snowfall. "It's been an incredible season so far for sure. I've had more wins this season than I've ever had in a season before. I could go home right now and feel pretty successful," Shiffrin said. But she was reluctant to back herself as stand-out favorite for the slalom and giant slalom, saying: "I don't know who to tell you to bet for. Anything can happen on race day. How I feel now could very much change when it's time for me to step into the start of the giant slalom and slalom. "Pressure comes in waves. Expectation, well one day I don't care what people want to see from me and the next day it's 'what will they say about me if I lose or fail?' "At the end of the season, if I walk away with nothing, I still will have had one of the most successful seasons of my career. It's not about what I have to do, it's just about what I want to do and that's a really cool place to be in sport." That super-G result in Cortina, Shiffrin acknowledged, could act as a further push to accelerate her pursuit of the footsteps of Sweden's Anja Paerson and Croat Janica Kostelic, both slalom specialists who turned into complete overall performers. "It's definitely motivating for me," she said. "One of my main dreams growing up was to win in every discipline. I'm constantly developing, I'm getting older and figuring things out with my skiing, I'm getting stronger every year. "I wasn't sure about my progress in speed. With that result in Cortina, it's making me thinking the more I develop I could be a really strong speed skier and a really strong, good all-round skier. "One of the tricky things is how I can continue to improve speed and gain experience without losing my slalom. Already this year, doing the few speed races that I have done, I've felt my slalom taking a hit." For the moment, however, Shiffrin was keen not to think too far ahead. "You go for the world champs or Olympics, you're going for medals. It's a very simple focus, it's not easy to do, but the goal is all or nothing. It's nice to come to a race where the goal is mapped out for you."
