Star ski racer on track to legend status at her third Winter Olympics
US alpine ski racer Mikaela Shiffrin
US star skier Mikaela Shiffrin will set off on her mission to become an athletic legend at her third Winter Olympics in Beijing on Monday, despite the lingering pain of the loss of her father two years ago.
Shiffrin, 26, is one of the most decorated alpine skiers in history. The three-time medalist will compete in all five disciplines – Downhill, Super G, Giant Slalom, Slalom and Combined – during the Games. If she medals in all five events, she could become the most successful female alpine skier in Olympic history.
According to the schedule, she will begin her Olympic program on Monday (February 7) with the Giant Slalom, followed by the Slalom on the same day.
The Super-G is scheduled on February 11, the Downhill is on February 15 and the Combined is February 17. The schedule will largely hinge on the weather.
"It has to be gold or else that's a huge disappointment," Shiffrin told an interview with Eurosport ahead of the Games. She admitted racing for a gold medal makes for a "pretty stressful and uncomfortable experience."
"It's not like rainbows and sunshine and butterflies and everything that people sort of say," Shiffrin told reporters.
At age 18, Shiffrin was the youngest slalom champion in Olympic alpine skiing history. She has so far won three Olympic medals, three World Cup overall titles and six world championship golds. She will defend her giant slalom title won at PyeongChang 2018.
Shiffrin poses with her boyfriend, the Norweigian alpine skier Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, in Beijing.
Golden couple
Shiffrin arrived in the Beijing Olympic Village and started training on January 31, the eve of Chinese Lunar New Year, along with other members of the US ski and snowboard team.
She posted a photo taken with her boyfriend, Norway's gold medal favorite Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, at the Olympic Village on social media, saying it was a reunion for the most intriguing couple at the Games.
Kilde is leader of World Cup standings in the downhill and super-G. The pair could end up dominating much of the alpine skiing events at the Beijing Games.
However, they will have limited chance to meet each other at the village amid the pandemic. Countries are taking precautions not to mix with others as part of COVID-19 prevention measures.
Kilde told reporters the pair met for dinner in the Olympic Village and might have no further face-to-face interaction.
"It's nice to have her here but it's more challenging, because with COVID and the restrictions, you have to be really careful," Kilde told reporters.
A photo of Shiffrin and her father pinned on the ski star's social media
Shiffrin has been struggling to walk out from the shadow of her father's death in 2020. An old photo with her father when she was a young girl is still pinned atop her social media.
"It's still pretty painful to think about, so I don't think about it too much," Shiffrin said in a recent video interview with The Associated Press.
The Beijing Games will be her first Olympics since her father passed. He had accompanied her on her two previous Winter Olympics and other important occasions.
Jeff Shiffrin died at age 65 from a head injury suffered in an accident at the family home in Colorado. He was an anesthesiologist who helped Shiffrin develop her original training and workout methods.
Shiffrin describes her sport as "a family thing." Her mother Eileen raced in high school in northwestern Massachusetts and her brother Taylor, 30, raced for the University of Denver.
The coronavirus might become another challenge.
She tweeted on December 27 that she had tested positive for COVID-19. She spent nine days quarantined in Central Europe and was banned from any exercise that would raise her heartbeat or breathing rate.
She finished second in the slalom event in Zagreb in her first event since recovery.
Mikaela Shiffrin races during the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup in Schladming, Austria, in January 2022.
