Mikaela Shiffrin parted ways with her longtime coach, Mike Day, in the middle of a very successful World Cup skiing season, she announced Wednesday.
But the split didn’t slow her down on the slopes, as she won gold in the giant slalom at the FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships in France on Thursday.
“It’s been definitely some high levels of stress these days,” Shiffrin said after the win. “It was very, very difficult today to keep the focus and keep the intensity on the right level.”
World championship races are not part of the World Cup season, so Thursday’s gold medal run doesn’t count toward her pursuit of the overall World Cup wins record, though it does make her body of work so far this year even more impressive.
Shiffrin broke the women’s World Cup wins record in January, surpassing the 82-win mark set by fellow American skier Lindsey Vonn. She sits just one victory shy of tying the overall mark of 86 wins set by Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark.
While she still could match or break Stenmark’s record this season, she will do so without Day, who has coached her since 2016.
“After working with Mike Day for seven seasons, I’ve decided to move forward with new leadership on my team for the next phase of my career,” Shiffrin said in a statement released by the U.S. ski team. “I want to thank Mike and acknowledge all of his work and dedication over the last several years.”
The coach had been with Shiffrin when she placed second in a super-G race last week, then went with her to train in Orcières, France. The 27-year-old skier informed Day that she planned to move in a different direction with her coaching staff after the current season, and Day decided to leave immediately — in the midst of the world championships.
“It’s a shock for me that he took off,” U.S. alpine skiing director Patrick Riml told the Associated Press.
Shiffrin is set to race in slalom on Saturday in Meribel, France, as part of the world championships. Her assistant coach, Mark Mitter, remains with her, Riml said.
“We’ve got plenty of people here to support Mikaela and provide the training and the information she needs on race day to do her job,” Riml said. “She’s got great support.”