First, there was Berkshires-born Chris Mazdzer winning a 2018 Olympic Winter Games Silver medal in Men's Luge. Now, a skier with Berkshire connections has captured the Gold.

Mikaela Shiffrin outraced her competitors to win the weather-delayed Giant Slalom event Thursday in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The 22-year old is a Colorado native but her coach--and mother--Eileen grew up in Lanesborough. According to a background story in the Berkshire Eagle, she along with sisters Anne Marie and Carolyn and brother Patrick were raised in the town by their parents, Joe & Pauline (Polly) Condron. She and her siblings gained their skills on skis on an open field across from the family home. Eileen graduated from Mt. Greylock High School and was on the alpine ski team.  While at college in Boston, she met her husband-to-be Jeff Shiffrin who himself was an accomplished ski racer at Dartmouth. The couple eventually settled in Colorado.

It's not Mikaela's first time at the top of the medals podium, and might not be the last at these Olympics. Her success on the slopes would seem to be in her blood, along with the many long hours of training of course. She can trace that bloodline back to the Berkshires, and we gladly join with her family and friends in cheering her on.

 

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