Finnish coach Janne Haarala joins Mikaela Shiffrin’s coaching team with a two-year contract.
Coached Norwegian female alpine skiers for the past six years Janne Haarala moves Mikaela Shiffrin assistant coach for the upcoming season.
A two-time Olympic champion, Shiffrin has won 97 World Cup races, an all-time record. His trophy cabinet also includes, among other things, five overall World Cup victories and four slalom world championships.
Haarala, who coached the Norwegian women’s team for six years, tells Urheilu that she is excited about the great opportunity to coach the most successful alpine skier of all time
– I get to follow his activities closely. It is also a professional challenge that I get to respond to his cries, Haarala says.
Haarala says that at first he was supposed to continue coaching in Norway, but at the time of the World Cup finals, the US camp asked if he would be interested in joining Shiffrin’s coaching team.
– Things started to escalate quickly during the World Cup finals. It was basically a surprise to be asked. I thought about it for a while, and I wasn’t quite sure. After mulling over the matter for a few minutes, the discussions continued and now we are at this point.
In April, Haarala traveled to North America to meet with the team and Shiffrin, and signed a two-year contract. The goal is next year’s World Cup and the Milan-Cortina Olympics in 2026.
Haarala, who has toured the World Cup for a long time, has spent a lot of time at the same competition venues with the American star, but had not really had anything to do with him before.
After the World Cup finals, there has been even more contact. The superstar impressed the Finnish coach with his personality.
– He is an absolutely brilliant person. Made a positive impression when you think about how a successful athlete is talked about and how ordinary he was in the end.
– Above all, how much he still wants to learn, even though he has won a lot. He still wants to learn about the sport and absorb knowledge from the people around him. It made an indelible and positive impression.