The Levi Ski World Cup is here and it has some interesting news regarding its recent prize. Now, every year, the Levi Ski World Cup follows a dedicated reindeer tradition to further up the excitement of the alpine skiing event. For the uninitiated, reindeer are a popular part of Finland’s culture. 

For a long time, the herding of the reindeer has been one of the main and oldest occupations of the country. Paying respect to the culture, every time an athlete wins the FIS World Cup in Finland, they are awarded with a reindeer for taking home.

This way, the age-old Finnish tradition and culture live on and expand to various parts of the country. Speaking about the significance of reindeer in Finnish heritage, historical and Scandinavian texts have mentioned the animal as a symbol of spirituality. With the popularity of the reindeer growing with time since 1932, reindeer races have become overly popular in Finland. The animals are used extensively for transportation, clothing, and even food purposes. 

Recently, ahead of the Finland World Cup, Levi posted snapshots of the reindeer that will be presented as a prize this time. As a matter of fact, no random hornhead is chosen to be the prize. It is the owner of the Ounaskievari Reindeer Estate who gets to carefully pick the special one. In a recent Instagram post, ‘levinsanomat’ posted, “Not just any hornhead is eligible for the World Cup trophy reindeer. Johanna Hietanen, the entrepreneur of the Ounaskievari reindeer estate, chooses suitable individuals for the fall’s separations. This year, the young reindeer gentlemen, who travel to Ville and Valle, get to shine on the podium.”

Now, the gifting of the reindeer is metaphorical. The athletes who win do not physically take the animals along with them to their homes. Rather, after the ceremony is over, the reindeer are taken back to their estate, where they are further nurtured and receive proper care. Now, there is an athlete who has the highest number of reindeer to her name in recent times. And yes, we are talking about none other than Mikaela Shiffrin. 

Mikaela Shiffrin eyes for her eighth reindeer

Mikaela Shiffrin has taken the alpine skiing world by storm ever since she stepped foot into the sport. Coming to Levi, Finland, she has maintained her merry run, winning seven reindeer till now. Eyeing for her eighth reindeer this year, Shiffrin cannot wait to name yet another one of the elegant animals. After winning so many of them, Shiffrin has named each one of her reindeer from the estate. 

For the first one she received, Shiffrin named it Rudolph, which is a reference from the famous Christmas Carol. Her other reindeer are named Sven, Mr. Gru, Ingemar, Sunny, and Lorax. Lastly, after her latest victory last year, Shiffrin decided to name her prized reindeer as Grogu. This was again a pop culture reference, as it was the name of Baby Yoda in Mandalorian. Thus, with an interesting tradition making things exciting in Finland, it now remains to be seen who will have the honor of receiving the reindeer this year. And if Shiffrin wins, what whimsical name will she come up with for her 8th reindeer?