⛷️ The double Olympic champion, Mikaela Shiffrin, shared with Olympics.com how she is actively working to overcome her fears and intends to “make peace” with the Olympic stage ahead of Milano Cortina 2026. She stated her resolve, saying, “I don’t want Beijing to be the reason that I’m scared of the Olympics.”
🎶 The ‘Thicker Onion’: Finding Meaning in Music
Shiffrin, the Alpine skiing star, spoke about her appreciation for Taylor Swift’s latest album, favoring the more meaningful tracks over simple catchy hits. She has shown greater depth to her personality over the years, admitting during an exclusive interview at the recent Atomic Media Day in Austria, “I’m a thicker onion!”
🧠 Dealing with Post-Traumatic Stress
The 30-year-old athlete was candid about experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms following a puncture wound sustained during a race in Killington last November. Though she returned to competition two months later, she struggled particularly with giant slalom due to lingering fears.
💪 Renewed Mental Resilience for the New Season
The Team USA star is now prepared to start the new season with significantly renewed mental strength. Shiffrin revealed that her experience last year was “quite similar to how I felt after my dad passed away,” giving her deeper self-understanding.
💡 Finding Clarity Through Professional Help
After the sudden passing of her father, Jeff, in early 2020, Shiffrin took a break from the sport and was open about her grief. She explained the difference last year: “At that time, I wasn’t working with a psychologist — I didn’t understand why these things were happening.” By consulting with a psychologist last year and learning about PTSD and intrusive thoughts, the eight-time world champion feels “much more comfortable with feeling fear sometimes.”
📈 A Step-by-Step Approach to Competition
This process has provided Shiffrin with a clear strategy for her competitive approach. She summarized her task as: “My task is to keep trying, keep practising, keep exposing myself to faster skiing — and when I go step by step, it works, it gets better.”