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From heartbreak to hope: Mikaela Shiffrin ready to shine again at Milano Cortina

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4 months ago

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After a difficult Beijing Olympics, Mikaela Shiffrin is ready to write a new chapter. The two-time Olympic champion has learned from her toughest moments and is embracing a fresh mindset ahead of Milano Cortina 2026. With 100 days to go until the start of the Games in northern Italy, we caught up with the American superstar many consider the greatest skier to ever do it.

Two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin is looking ahead with renewed focus as she prepares for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, determined to turn past pain into podium success.
Shiffrin, who claimed slalom gold in 2014 and giant slalom gold in 2018, endured a challenging Beijing Games, where she entered six events but left without a medal.
In Sochi 2014, an 18-year-old Shiffrin took on just two events; by Pyeongchang she had added a third. In 2022, her expanded schedule included the super-G, downhill and team competitions – a load that, coupled with Covid-19 shortly before the Games and personal loss in the years prior, made for a difficult build-up.
Now, with 100 days to go until Milano Cortina, Shiffrin is focused on bringing a fresh mindset to Italy.
“Every Olympic Games that I have been to so far has been so different,” she told TNT Sports.
“There are different lessons I have learned in every Games. There are different feelings around each venue and it is on my mind that Beijing was very challenging.
“It was so many reasons, so many variables. Off the slopes, there was so much going on in my personal life, things that when I reflect now, I can understand why it was just a very turbulent time.
“So now I would like to go to Cortina with an open mind, excited. For sure, I am a bit nervous and I always have the question, ‘what if it goes wrong?’
“I don’t want to be embarrassed, I don’t want it to go wrong, but at the same time, you can’t really control the outcome, but you control what you bring to the hill, so I have tried to focus on that.”
There’s plenty of intrigue around which events Shiffrin will contest this time, with growing excitement over her potential super-G involvement.
“I still need some proper super-G training days. I had a few over the summer, but I need a few more,” she said.
“But then I would really hope to race in St. Moritz super-G [on December 14], no downhill this year, and then we’ll have to see how St. Moritz goes.
“For me, it is my own kind of time trial basically, but it also depends on my team-mates and who is racing there and what the possibility is to even start because I need to fight for that spot.”
After a difficult time in her last Olympics cycle, Shiffrin could be forgiven for ripping up the old plan and trying something completely different.
That is not what she has opted for, though, instead choosing to keep her training plan as close to her normal routine for this time of year.
“The only real difference is, as we get closer to the Games, I am a bit more aware of what I am spending my time doing,” she said.
“Normally this season, with no Olympics, I would really want to race as many super-Gs as possible, but this year I have to be aware that if I am not in a good position in super-G, then I really should focus on GS and slalom, so it is being just a little bit more aware of that than I even normally would be.
“Otherwise, not too much difference, just training as hard as I can, as often as possible.”
Despite the difficulties of Beijing, Shiffrin remains proud of how far she’s come – and motivated by what lies ahead.
“It is like my career has always gone that I didn’t think I would truly achieve something until after it happened [gold medal in Sochi].
“I didn’t really believe this was possible and then winning in Sochi in the slalom, I look back on that now like ‘wow, okay, so that is maybe the moment’.”
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