Sweet for 16-year-old

Teenager Mikaela Shiffrin used to watch skiers Marlies Schild and Lindsey Vonn on television when she was a kid. On Thursday, the 16-year-old high school student was standing alongside Schild on a World Cup slalom podium in Lienz, Austria, leaving U.S. teammate Vonn more than a second and a half behind. Shiffrin skied a stunning second run to finish third in a race won by her Austrian idol, becoming the youngest female racer to make the podium in a slalom since American Tamara McKinney in 1978. “I have been working so hard for this moment,” said the teen from Vail, Colo. “Schild, Zettel, Hosp, Vonn; I have been watching all these top girls for the past 10 years. And now I am here myself, it really feels crazy.” – Associated Press