San Francisco Frontiers - Shiffrin thrives off Kilde's power of positive thinking

Shiffrin, one of the faces of the Games in China, returned home with nothing to show from what she dubbed an "epic under-performance".

Not only did the American star fail to even finish the slalom, giant slalom and alpine combined -- three events in which she had been a keen favourite -- she did not get close to the podium in either the super-G or downhill either.

On hand to offer Shiffrin support was Kilde, the Norwegian speed specialist who himself bagged a combined silver and super-G bronze on the slopes of Yanqing.

"He gave me advice at the Olympics last year," Shiffrin said of Kilde, the pair dubbed the golden couple of alpine skiing given their high profile backed up by success on the pistes.

"I think about our conversations last year so often.

"He always just said 'the margins in this sport are so small and you've been on the right side of those margins so often in your career, it must feel so shocking to be on the wrong side of it so often in such a short time'."

Kilde, Shiffrin said, encouraged her to "try to find what's positive and figure out something you can enjoy because you can't beat yourself down constantly and expect to survive this".

With that mindset in place, Shiffrin has dominated women's racing this season and has moved to within one victory of Ingemar Stenmark's overall World Cup tally of wins (86).

Turning to the world championships that start on Monday, Shiffrin said: "I could fail again. That'll be unfortunate but I'll survive.

"That's the best advice I've received from him, that works in every single situation."

- Long-distance relationship -

The couple's in-season relationship is not without its logistical problems given that the men and women's races on the World Cup circuit are run separately, often in different countries.

"Once we start racing, we're like passing each other on the highway," Shiffrin said, although the couple do pre-season training together in Chile.

"Training with him is my favourite thing, it's so motivating. He has such a good eye for skiing, we talk about the turns, technique, the feeling, tactics, all of it."

The racing is even separated for these world champs, the men competing in Courchevel and the women in the adjoining valley in Meribel.

"I don't know how much over the next two weeks how much we'll see each other," Shiffrin said, adding they would maybe have the chance to "touch base" at bib draws or award ceremonies.

"The focus is on racing, for sure, for both of us which is wonderful because we can be close and supportive of each other and if we get five minutes here or there, that's amazing," the 27-year-old said.

"It doesn't feel distracting, it's just positive."

While Shiffrin credits Kilde for his wise words, she argued it was not necessarily a two-way street.

"I don't know if I really give him advice. But I know a world championship medal is something on his mind for sure. It's on all our minds," she said.

All racers were "out of the comfort zone" in Beijing, she added, and "he handled it like a true champion".

"He has that experience to back him up a little bit... The most important is to be relaxed and focused on his skiing."

Shiffrin was also keen to play down any idea that she and Kilde were skiing's "super-couple".

"When we we're together we're just giggling, goofing around, it doesn't feel very 'super'!" she said.

"But then I watch him racing in Kitzbuehel and it's like, wow, he's kind of a badass.

"I'm not a huge fan of the huge super couple theme or title, mostly because I don't ever want to walk into a room thinking I'm the best person in the room or we're the coolest couple in the room."

Z.Phillips--SFF