Shiffrin 始める，決める up as Olympics 星／主役にする; Vonn, Hirscher big, too
If Mikaela Shiffrin continues to race 同様に as she has been, she is setting herself up to be the biggest 星／主役にする of the Pyeongchang Olympics. Not just of Alpine skiing, but the entire Winter Games.
To put it 簡単に: She has been の近くに to unbeatable this year.
Shiffrin, a 22-year-old American, won the first five women's World Cup races she entered in 2018, part of a stretch of seven victories in eight starts, competing against the best the world has to 申し込む／申し出 and outclassing them time and again. And Shiffrin was not 単に winning - she was 圧倒的な 対抗者s, いつかs （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域ing the 走者-up by more than 1.5 seconds, a large 利ざや in a sport often decided by hundredths.
Born in Colorado and raised in New Hampshire and Vermont, Shiffrin was 18 at the 2014 Sochi Games when she became the youngest Olympic slalom 支持する／優勝者 in history. Her 41st career World Cup race 勝利，勝つ, which （機の）カム in January, equaled the highest total for a ski racer under 23.
Now she 長，率いるs to Pyeongchang as an 圧倒的な favorite to be the first to 勝利，勝つ 連続した slalom golds. What's more, she will be a 競争相手 to 勝利，勝つ the 巨大（な） slalom and 連合させるd, too , for a chance to match the Alpine 記録，記録的な／記録する of three 肩書を与えるs at one Olympics.
It's possible that she also could enter the 最高の-G and downhill, which would make her something never seen these days: a five-event 脅し.
"When I go to South Korea, I'm not going to be thinking about what I did in Sochi or what I did even 以前 in this season," Shiffrin said. "Hopefully, I'll just be thinking about the 仕事 at 手渡す."
Here are some other things to watch on the mountains in February:
VONN'S RETURN AND FAREWELL
Shiffrin's U.S. チーム仲間 Lindsey Vonn was supposed to be the one to watch at the Sochi Olympics but never got the chance to defend her downhill gold メダル from Vancouver in 2010 after 涙／ほころびing 膝 ligaments . 支援する on the sport's biggest 行う／開催する／段階 for the last time at age 33, Vonn c an 追加する to her 遺産／遺物 as one of the かつてない greatest ski racers (she owns a women's-記録，記録的な／記録する 81 World Cup 勝利，勝つs, 含むing the last three downhills before Pyeongchang) by 収入 yet another メダル.
ELUSIVE GOLD
Marcel Hirscher is as 支配的な の中で the men as Shiffrin is の中で the women. The Austrian has won an 前例のない six 連続した 全体にわたる World Cup 肩書を与えるs and appears on his way to No. 7. In January, he has won six of his past seven slaloms 長，率いるing to the Winter Games and his 55 race 勝利，勝つs 階級 second の中で men behind Ingemar Stenmark's 86. "He is just better. That's the way it is," said Henrik Kristoffersen, a Norwegian who perpetually ends up in second place, behind Hirscher. But for everything he's done, Hirscher has yet to 勝利，勝つ an Olympic gold メダル, にもかかわらず four 最高の，を越す-five finishes in slalom or 巨大（な） slalom at Sochi and Vancouver.
REMEMBER THESE NAMES
Some folks to keep an 注目する，もくろむ on who could spring a surprise 含む Petra Vlhova of Slovakia, the last person to （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 Shiffrin in a slalom race before the American's 非常に長い winning streak; Sofia Goggia of Italy, who will be making her Olympic debut but won two World Cup races on the mountain in South Korea in March 2017; Michael Matt of Austria, whose older brother Mario 敗北・負かすd Hirscher for the gold in slalom four years ago; Andrew Weibrecht of the U.S. (愛称: War Horse), who （機の）カム out of nowhere to 選ぶ up メダルs in 2010 and 2014 and maybe - just maybe - could do it again.
BYE, BODE
After a U.S.-記録，記録的な／記録する six Alpine メダルs (one gold, three silvers, two bronzes) across five Winter Games 外見s, and one 悪名高い 誇る about partying "at an Olympic level" at the 2006 Turin Games, Bode Miller will not be on the slopes in Pyeongchang. He will, however, be 申し込む／申し出ing his thoughts on TV, which should be insightful and entertaining. Other familiar 直面するs who'll be absent: Tina Maze, a Slovenian who won two golds four years ago; Maria Hoefl-Riesch, a German メダル who collected three golds and one silver at the past two Olym pics; and Ivica Kostelic, a Croatian with four Olympic silvers.
NEW EVENT
A team event is 存在 追加するd at the end of the Olympic Alpine schedule for the first time. Some 競技者s - 顕著に, Shiffrin - have said they 疑問 they'll 参加する, but it could be a way for ski racers who had a disappointing Olympics to make one last 企て，努力，提案 for a メダル.
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AP Sports Writers Graham Dunbar and Pat Graham 与える／捧げるd to this 報告（する）／憶測.
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More AP Olympic ニュース報道: https://wintergames.ap.org/
