Mikaela Shiffrin appoints pioneering Karin Harjo as her new head coach

Two days after becoming the most successful World Cup skier in history, Mikaela Shiffrin marked her 28th birthday with the appointment of a new personal head coach on Monday in the hopes of getting “a fresh and new way of thinking” moving forward.

The US ski team said Karin Harjo, a pioneer for female coaches in Alpine skiing who has served as head coach of Canada’s women’s team this winter, will take up the role in April and join Shiffrin for post-season training and an equipment testing camp. Harjo will work with Shiffrin’s mother, Eileen, who has been one of the two-time Olympic gold medalist’s long-term coaches.

“I’m really looking forward to working with Karin again, this time more directly as my new head coach,” said Shiffrin, who split with her former coach Mike Day during the world championships one month ago. “I’ve witnessed her exceptional work ethic, her ability to work well with other coaches, and most importantly her connection and dedication to her athletes.”

The appointment comes after Shiffrin broke Ingemar Stenmark’s long-standing World Cup record by earning her 87th career race win on Saturday.

Harjo, whose family roots are Norwegian, had spells as an assistant coach with the US team from 2015-22. In 2016 she became the first woman to design the gate-setting for a World Cup slalom or giant slalom race.

This season Harjo became just the second female head coach of a World Cup team and oversaw first career wins for Laurence St-Germain and Valérie Grenier. St-Germain won gold in slalom at the world championships to edge Shiffrin into silver in the American’s favorite event.

“I am beyond excited and humbled by the opportunity to work with Mikaela in this capacity,” Harjo said. “I started my World Cup