MILAN – A gold medal hung around her neck and an invisible burden lifted from her shoulders as Mikaela Shiffrin walked into the NBC station Friday afternoon.
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Two days earlier, Shiffrin, 30, won her first Olympic gold medal since 2018 in giant slalom. Many athletes go their entire lives without winning a single Olympic medal. But since Shiffrin became the youngest skier ever to win an Olympic gold medal in slalom in 2014, expectations have been different for her. Since then, he has become the winningest bowler in World Cup history. However, his eight-year drought since he last won an Olympic medal has become the foundation of his CV as he has won.
Shiffrin, who grew up in the sport in Edwards, Colorado, just outside Vail, celebrated her slalom gold this week in part with an espresso martini, a celebratory drink she said was her first in two years.
Shiffrin spoke to NBC News about the daily grind, what she tells herself — and what she needs her friends and family to tell her — to be the best she can be on the course, and the mountain that means the most to her.
This Q&A has been edited and condensed for clarity.
NBC News: You said you hadn’t really been drinking for two years before that espresso martini, it made me think about the discipline you’ve had. I wonder if there are other things that you, to give yourself a chance, have cut out of your life in the last few years to prepare for these games.
Shiffrin: I don’t know if there’s anything else that I’ve really cut out of my life in the way that I’ve stayed away from alcohol, but I think discipline is kind of structure and consistency, doing all these things. We talk about preparing our whole life but what does that actually mean? And it’s like showing up every day, waking up early in the morning to do warmups when you’re going to go skiing, out on the mountain. But it’s also going to the gym every day, even if you have other things going on, even when your family has a birthday and you’re going overseas.
Consistently proving yourself over the years is what allows you to have a double 47 seconds of really good slalom skiing. This is where discipline comes in. And then, alcohol, to put that aside – mainly because whenever I drink something I get sick. That could be my immune system, but I’ve just been, hmm, there’s a pattern.
NBC News: Now that this is over, are there any things you want to indulge in, whether it’s how you spend your time, or what you eat?
Shiffrin: I think I’m still in a strong frame of mind because we still have the whole World Cup season. The next race is in I think less than two weeks, so I’m having a blast celebrating this (lifting the gold medal), then I’m back on the ice and training for the upcoming competitions because I have six more World Cup races at the end of the season and I’m leading the overall standings right now, so I have something to fight for. So I’m still in the right frame of mind.
I scoff at the espresso martini but I had it the other night. I indeed he went crazy, you know! I like to feel the build and feel like there’s something I’m working towards every day so at some point in my life I won’t have a ski race to give that build and I’ll need to find something else. But for now, I also wish for the discipline that this game provides.
NBC News: On Instagram, he posted about the lyrics he posted (on sticky notes near his home in Cortina d’Ampezzo). Is there a certain mantra you always say to yourself before you walk in the gate?
Shiffrin: In the World Cup race I always have two instructions, technical. In slalom and giant slalom they are different from each other; and at speeds that may vary. But right now in slalom, it’s just these two things, and I don’t know if it means anything to any (non-skiers). ‘It’s ankles and knees, punch and push.’ And it doesn’t mean anything to anyone else but to me that helps me get into a really good frame of mind.
But in these Olympics, I felt like I needed more recognition. I told my team every game, ‘These are the things I think about, this is what makes me nervous, and I need you guys to keep reminding me mentally. You keep reminding me of inspiration, don’t you? Basically, focus between start and finish, on the necessary turns between start and finish. That’s where those words I taped to my mirror come from. I don’t usually do that, but it felt like I needed some external configuration, so my group and those mantras were very, very helpful.
NBC News: Are there things you ask your team to tell you every day?
Shiffrin: Remind me that despite the fear, I still want to feel connected and strong. They’ve heard me talk about the different feelings I’ve had about great skiing over the years to remind me of that. One may say, ‘Free.’ One said, ‘Collect the chains.’ Most of my mantras come from my mom, actually, they’re things she told me, about technology, and skiing, and thinking over the years. It’s usually, ‘The more you feel scared, the more powerful you want to be in your swing.’ So what I was thinking was, ‘The faster the heart beats, the bigger the heart is.’ That was another day of slalom.
NBC News: You can only climb one mountain for the rest of your life. Where, and why?
Shiffrin: (Pause) I don’t think I can choose! I really don’t know. I can’t. I can’t do it! I’m sorry. I set a boundary, no, I won’t do it, I won’t choose. There are so many amazing mountains.
NBC News: I will repost it. Which mountain is the most important to you?
Shiffrin: Home. In Colorado, all the mountains are amazing, but … I don’t always stay at home. I travel about 10 months of the year so being home 10 days here and eight days there and maybe two weeks sometimes, then when I do I just get to ride with my mom and my brother and my mother-in-law, maybe once a year we get to do that but those are really precious moments.
