PARIS — For the better part of a decade, the narrative of American alpine skiing has been a solo performance. At every starting gate, from the icy peaks of Scandinavia to the technical slopes of the Dolomites, Mikaela Shiffrin has carried more than just her skis; she has carried the collective weight of a sport’s expectations.
However, as the countdown to the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics enters its final month, a seismic shift has occurred in the media landscape. The singular spotlight that has often intensified into a scorching heat for Shiffrin is now being shared. The reason? The improbable, headline-grabbing return of the “Speed Queen” herself, Lindsey Vonn.
The Weight of Greatness
Shiffrin, now 30, enters these Games as the most successful alpine skier in history. With a staggering 106 World Cup victories, she has moved beyond mere competition and into the realm of living mythology. Yet, as the world saw during the Beijing 2022 Games, statistics offer no protection against the crushing psychological pressure of the Olympic stage.
What has always set Shiffrin apart is not just her technical precision in the slalom, but her radical emotional candor. In a discipline historically defined by stoic mountain men and women, Shiffrin has been jarringly human. She has spoken openly about her struggles with performance anxiety and the profound grief following the sudden death of her father, Jeff, in 2020.
“I want to make peace with the Olympics,” Shiffrin recently noted, reflecting on her desire to redefine her relationship with a quadrennial event that has brought her both historic gold and heart-wrenching disappointment.
The Vonn Factor
The return of 41-year-old Lindsey Vonn has provided Shiffrin with an unexpected gift: space to breathe. Vonn, who qualified for her fifth Olympic team this December following a remarkable comeback from knee replacement surgery, has naturally reclaimed her role as the media’s central protagonist.
Vonn’s storyline—a legendary champion defying age and medical science to return to the mountains where she first made her mark—is a journalist’s dream. By absorbing a significant portion of the “medal-count” scrutiny and legacy-building questions, Vonn has effectively decentralized the pressure. For the first time in two Olympic cycles, the “face of the Games” has two profiles.
Focusing on the Snow
This diversion comes at a critical time. Shiffrin is currently locked in a fierce battle for the slalom crystal globe with Switzerland’s Camille Rast, who recently snapped Shiffrin’s six-race winning streak. Without the singular burden of being the only American hope in the headlines, Shiffrin appears more liberated to focus on the technical adjustments required to reclaim her dominance.
In Cortina d’Ampezzo, the tracks will be fast and the stakes will be astronomical. But as the American team prepares for the opening ceremony on February 6, the atmosphere feels different. Shiffrin remains the sport’s most dominant force, but she is no longer its only lightning rod.
If Olympic greatness is measured by resilience, Shiffrin has already won. But with Vonn by her side on the team roster, she may finally get to experience an Olympics where she is free to be a skier first and a symbol second.