On Wednesday, Feb. 16, American Mikaela Shiffrin, won the 2026 Olympic gold medal in the women’s slalom in Milan, Italy. She dominated the competition, beating out second place by a margin of 1.5 seconds with a combined time of 1:39.10. After a disappointing trip to Beijing in the 2022 Winter Olympics where she did not win any medals, despite being a fan favorite for the podium, her comeback has been an inspiring story for the millions of people who watched her succeed.
Shiffrin has faced many struggles throughout her career including grief; her father passed away unexpectedly in 2020, which caused her to take a break from racing for 10 months and negatively impacted her mental health. She took almost a year off from training, and had to work hard to get back into shape to race after such an elongated break. She navigated her way through this grief and came back in the 2021 racing season, earning a spot on the 2022 Olympic team only a year later.
At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Shiffrin was entered into six Alpine events: Downhill, Super-G, Giant Slalom, Slalom, Alpine Combined and the Mixed Team Parallel Slalom. Despite having six chances to medal, she came back with none, a disappointing and shocking result. This loss was very upsetting for both her and Team USA, but she used the opportunity to grow, both in her sport and outside of it.
“My experience [in Beijing] was a catalyst for indescribable growth in my life, more outside the sport than anything, but that growth has impacted my life within sport in a way that I can’t explain,” Shiffrin said in an episode of her podcast, “What’s the Point with Mikaela Shiffrin?”
Another difficult barrier that Shiffrin had to overcome occurred late in 2024 when she got in an accident during a giant slalom race that left her with a puncture wound in her abdomen after she crashed into a slalom gate. It took Shiffrin months to recover physically from this incident and it left her with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that held her back during races. She came back to racing in giant slalom this year, but she struggled for over a year to confidently ski this race without hesitation.
Twelve years ago when she won an Olympic medal as an 18-year-old prodigy and now coming back to win it again, the struggles she has faced during her career show the resilience and grit that is necessary to become an Olympic champion. Her story has left an impact on many younger athletes as an inspiring role model to look up to. The obstacles she has dealt with have shaped the mindset she now has while facing pressure and other challenges that come with competing.
“I really chose to believe that it’s a beautiful gift, despite maybe feeling a little bit of pressure at times,” Shiffrin said.
Shiffrin now holds three Olympic gold medals, which is more than any other American Alpine skier in history. She also won an Olympic Alpine skiing event by the largest margin since 1988, showing her dominance in this event. She has not confirmed whether she will be competing at the 2030 Winter Olympics, but she plans to complete the 2025-2026 season and will eventually return to racing in the giant slalom.
