Fresh off claiming a record ninth slalom crystal globe, a grateful Mikaela Shiffrin embraces pressure ahead of fourth Olympics

Each of Mikaela Shiffrin’s four Olympics have been “wildly different experiences,” but the luster of the Games has never worn off.

“With those experiences, being able to show up to Cortina and still be wide-eyed and I think just as excited and motivated as the first is really great,” the two time gold medalist said during a press conference on Saturday in Italy.

In a sport where much of the general public tunes in every four years to assign legacy grades based off Olympic performances, one could argue Shiffrin’s main motivator — despite being the all-time winningest World Cup Alpine skier by a wide margin — should be the search for redemption. The Edwards skier infamously left Beijing with no hardware after arriving as a medal contender — or downright favorite — in all six events. Shiffrin skied out of three races at the 2022 Games: the Alpine combined, the giant slalom and slalom. She was also 18th in the downhill, ninth in the super-G and fourth in the team parallel.

“I think it’d be impossible not to take my experiences from different Olympics — including Beijing — and sort of have those be somehow relevant in this Games,” Shiffrin said. “But I feel, sitting here right now, I feel so much gratitude to be here. It’s like excitement, adrenalin — I’m certainly nervous at times — but really a lot of a sense of gratitude. I’m excited to take that with me for the entire time I’m here.”

Shiffrin will open the 2026 Olympics on Feb. 10 with the team combined. Last winter, she paired up with Breezy Johnson to win gold in the inaugural competition. Two weeks ago, it seemed likely Shiffrin would race the event with Lindsey Vonn — the current downhill globe leader. Then Vonn tore her ACL in the final downhill before the Games, only to sustain a broken leg in Sunday’s downhill while Johnson captured gold.

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Prior to Vonn’s crash, Shiffrin was asked about potentially being paired with the fellow Ski and Snowboard Club Vail alumni, who happens to be second on the women’s all-time World Cup wins list.

“I thankfully don’t have any impact on that decision because I would be honored to race with any single one of my teammates, who have all been at the top of the charts in the training runs the last days and obviously been at the top of the standings in the World Cup,” Shiffrin said. “I’m in a really wonderful, lucky position to be able to do the event, period.”

Team USA officially announced the pairings for each of its four women’s team combined squads on Monday morning. Johnson and Shiffrin make up the No. 1 squad, followed by Jackie Wiles — who placed fourth in the downhill — and Paula Moltzan. Bella Wright will go with Nina O’Brien and Keely Cashman and A.J. Hurt make up the fourth pairing.

Shiffrin will also race the GS on Feb. 15 and the slalom on Feb. 18. After wrapping up her unprecedented ninth slalom globe last month — and having won seven of the eight starts on the World Cup circuit this season — it’s hard to believe anything other than gold will be satisfactory for the 30-year-old in that event. But when asked to define success, Shiffrin called for time.

“It would be maybe interesting in two or three weeks to reflect on how it feels, because I don’t have an exact answer,” she replied.

For now, continuing to put in the work with her team is the focus, she said. One key storyline has been the reemergence of her GS form after a serious crash in Killington, Vermont in November 2024. After being sidelined for 60 days from the abdominal puncture wound, Shiffrin was just 25th in her return race in Sestriere, Italy on Feb. 22, 2025. She didn’t qualify for a second run the following day and posted a DNF in Are, Sweden a few weeks later, battling PTSD-like symptoms all the while. Shiffrin admitted Saturday she struggled at the time to imagine ever being a top-10 finisher again, much less a podium contender.

But this season has rekindled her confidence. She finished fourth in the season opener and has been in the top-6 six races in a row, including a podium in Spindleruv Lmyn on Jan. 24. Shiffrin said her “top pace” is “amongst the fastest in the world,” but she is still learning how to comfortably be full throttle on a consistent basis.

“There’s turns where I still back off that I see the top, top women who have been consistently winning races — they drive harder,” Shiffrin stated.

While fans might believe the 71-time slalom winner hits a certain level in October and maintains it the rest of the winter, Shiffrin said whether it’s different course settings, snow surfaces, equipment tweaks or game film, she’s constantly trying to get better.

“You can’t ski a perfect run, so there’s always turns where I’m looking at it,” she said. “It’s always thinking, what can we improve.”

Despite being devastated at the time, Beijing made Shiffrin better, too.

“In Beijing, all those pieces came together and factors that played a role — we’ve assessed them all and I continue to assess them — and basically, I would like to be more committed to my outside ski,” Shiffrin said before describing the fundamental skill as an “ongoing task.”

“It’s also one of the things that played a role in my crash in Killington,” she continued. “And I will tell you, I’ll take Beijing any day over crashing in Killington and getting a puncture wound to the abdomen.”

Coming off of injury and coming back to the Olympics, gratitude emerged as a key theme in Saturday’s press conference. Shiffrin spoke of being grateful for her health, for her teammates — all of them — and for the chance to represent the country.

“I think it’s always an honor and privilege to represent Team USA,” said Shiffrin, who is also thankful for the pressure.

“Right now, (pressure) really does feel like a privilege,” she continued. “I’m grateful for that.”