Skiing superstar Lindsey Vonn’s announcement that she will miss competing in the Olympics next month does more than just prove she is human.

It also creates a whole new level of pressure for American athletes who might otherwise have been treated by the media circus as members of the Lindsey Vonn/Tiger Woods supporting cast.

The biggest recipient of that growing pressure is likely to be 18-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin, the slalom phenom who won her sixth World Cup race in Bormeo, Italy last weekend.

Shiffrin has been dominating the European competition for more than a year. Last season she became the youngest skier to win both the world championships and the World Cup crystal globe in slalom. This season she won the season opener in Finland but slumped to as low as 12th in Courchevel before regaining her form in Italy to win again. She also reached the podium twice in giant slalom, and is a top-five contender for the overall World Cup title, even without competing in the speed events of downhill and Super G.

Ted Ligety, Bode Miller and surprise star David Chodounsky all have been performing well in men’s races leading up to the Olympics. But no American woman is racing with anywhere near as much success as Shiffrin this season. Olympic medalist Julia Mancuso and teammates Leanne Smith and Oregonian Laurenne Ross all have been struggling to keep pace with the Austrians, Swedes and Norwegians.

Even with a missing knee ligament, the best American hope in the women’s speed events in Sochi was still Lindsey Vonn. But Vonn simply could not pull off the comeback she wanted, despite her intense work with training and conditioning.

That leaves Shiffrin as America’s one true threat to win gold in women’s racing. It will be interesting to see how she responds to the pressure. Thus far she has seemed almost immune to nerves, skiing with grace and power to defeat racers with far more experience. Last weekend in Italy she conquered blinding sleet, massive ruts and a brutally turny eight-gate section in the steeps for her American-record-ting sixth slalom victory.

Time will tell whether she can keep her form for the pressure-cooker of the Olympics.

If you have six minutes to spare, I recommend this Fox Sports interview with Mikaela Shiffrin talking to Olympic champion Picabo Street about her life, and the art of skiing:

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Last modified: January 7, 2014