Two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin celebrated her 104th career World Cup podium and 67th slalom victory on Sunday at Copper Mountain, but the triumphant weekend came with a small sting: an automatic fine of CHF 999 (approximately $1,150 USD) from the International Ski Federation (FIS).
The penalty was issued because Shiffrin arrived late to the mandatory public bib draw held the evening before the slalom race. Under FIS World Cup Rule 9.4, the top 15 ranked athletes in technical events (slalom and giant slalom) are required to appear in person at a designated time for the draw. Missing the check-in without an approved excuse triggers an automatic CHF 999 sanction, with repeat offenses potentially rising to CHF 5,000.
FIS media coordinator Viviane Tonoli confirmed the infraction, explaining that Shiffrin “appeared too late for the starting number draw.” Sources close to the situation say the 30-year-old American simply got lost on her way to the event, despite living only about 20 minutes away in nearby Vail.
While the fine represents just a tiny fraction of the roughly $63,500 in prize money Shiffrin collected for her victory, it marked a rare administrative misstep for the most decorated alpine skier in history.
“This rule is applied consistently to everyone,” Tonoli stressed, underscoring FIS’s emphasis on athletes fulfilling public-appearance obligations at World Cup stops.
This was Shiffrin’s first known violation of the bib-draw attendance rule, so she received the standard minimum penalty rather than the escalated amount reserved for repeat offenders.
Shiffrin has not publicly commented on the incident, but the minor blemish is unlikely to overshadow what was otherwise a dominant return to American snow, where she out-skied the field by more than a second to claim win number 104.
