Mikaela Shiffrin reveals names of two reindeer she won at Levi – ‘There should always be a little sunshine’

For those who are not aware, the winner of the slalom World Cup events in the Finnish resort is awarded a reindeer. The resort is in Finnish Lapland.

Don’t get too excited though, the skiers don’t get to take the reindeer home, instead they are looked after by the resort and they can visit whenever they like.

Over the weekend Shiffrin won both slalom races to cap off a perfect start to the new season. It also took her tally of reindeers from four to six.

The previous reindeers were called Rudolph (2013), Sven (2016), Mr Gru (2018) and Ingemar (2019). The first three are fairly self-explanatory. The fourth was so named because she had just passed the legendary Ingemar Stenmark’s record for the most slalom wins.

We now know the names of the two reindeer Shiffrin won over the weekend.

Writing on Twitter, Shiffrin revealed the one she won on Saturday would be called “Sunny” after her new US skiing team-mate Ava Sunshine, who became the first American since Brennan Rubie in 2012 to score points on their World Cup debut. The reindeer from Sunday was named Lorax” after her late father Jeff and her entire extended family who have supported her since his passing.

“Not gonna lie… this was not expected, but I’m so grateful. I couldn’t wish for a better start to the season.” Shiffrin wrote on Twitter.

“As for the reindeer names – For tonight, the name is ‘Lorax’ in honour of my Dad and in extension my whole family, and who have taught me, supported and encouraged me, and have been my lifeline for these last years since he passed.

“Our little buddy from last night will be named “Sunny” (short for Sunshine) in honour of Ava’s spectacular first World Cup race and also because there should always be a little sunshine in Levi.

“Levi, thank you for these wonderful memories. Congrats to Anna [Swenn Larsson], Wendy Holdener, and Petra [Vlhova] as well – it was a fight this weekend and it will be all season!”

Shiffrin is now two reindeer away from having as many as Santa Claus. That might be just as important as getting to the records of Lindsey Vonn and Ingemar Stenmark.

– –