Mikaela Shiffrin interview: ‘You can’t get into a fight with a mountain and expect to win’

There’s a perverse irony in the fact that three days after talking to Mikaela Shiffrin about her career, her goals, and, of course, the current plethora of high-profile accidents in elite skiing, she herself suffered a bad fall in a downhill race. He threatens the rest of the season in Cortina d’Ampezzo.

However, it is suspected that little will change.

The topic of danger comes up more than once during our conversation. How could it not be, considering the star names the sport has this year? That number includes Shiffrin’s main rival, Petra Vlhova, before she even starts talking, as well as her boyfriend, Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, whose horrific high-speed crash in Wengen last month threatened not only her season but her ability to walk again.

When we spoke, Shiffrin had just returned from visiting him in the hospital and was in a philosophical mood.

“I think it’s a really harsh reminder of how fragile we really are,” he says. “You can’t get into a fight with a mountain and expect to win, you know. But I don’t feel incredibly shaken.”

‘I will withdraw from races where conditions are questionable’

The question is whether all these crashes are somehow connected. Is elite skiing becoming more dangerous? So why? So at what point do you give up when you’re ahead?

After all, at 28 years old and already with two Olympic gold medals and more World Cup victories (95) than any skier in history, male or female, Shiffrin has nothing left to prove. In the eyes of many people, he is already the “GOAT” of alpine skiing. Now he can walk away and remain a legend forever.

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Shiffrin smiles. He doesn’t deny that this is a topic that has come up between him and Kilde on more than one occasion. As he admitted in an interview with CNN last week: “The risk of crashing and suffering not just career- or season-ending injuries, but life-altering injuries… that’s a huge weight to carry. Especially when you experience it firsthand.” “I think the angle changes a little bit. I won’t deny it. It’s definitely a very real thing.”

But ultimately, he says, it comes down to the fact that he loves skiing. And he is willing to accept the risks inherent in doing what he loves.

“I guess it comes down to weighing the risk and reward,” he adds. “I feel responsible. I was always very aware of the risks. I will tend to withdraw from speed races [downhill and super-G] if I feel like there’s a skill set that I don’t have to do that race with. Or if there are races where I think the conditions are questionable or the visibility is more questionable than I’m willing to deal with.

“I’m trying to be honest about it. My coaches, my team around me, and also my mom, she’s one of the people that I trust to guide me in making these decisions. And she asked me the same question. You know, ‘After seeing Aleks crash, I don’t want to go into these races and go downhill.’ What do you think about it?’ I feel good.”

‘Aleks’ leg looked like a war image… The television was not showing it’

Shiffrin sits in her chair at her chalet in Cortina d’Ampezzo — we talk via Zoom — and continues. He doesn’t deny that Kilde’s accident was horrific. In fact, he says, he wished he had been more open about the extent of his injuries (the Norwegian suffered a nasty calf injury and shoulder dislocation) because then there would have been greater appreciation for the risks elite skiers take. .

“To be honest, his leg looked like a war image,” he says. “Injury doesn’t do it justice. TV didn’t share this because it was too revealing. But I think maybe there’s a way to share this where people can choose whether they want to see it or not. Because back then, if people had known a little more about the severity of the accident, the procedures he went through, and his recovery time, they might have seen how strong he actually was… It was bad. He is bad. But he is very positive. “He has the Viking spirit.”

Shiffrin says her acceptance of risks should not be read as a free pass to FIS [the International Ski and Snowboard Federation]. Following his accident last week, he posted an update on social media about his recovery from a knee sprain. In his article, he touched on growing concerns about the frequency and severity of injuries on tour this season, saying he “absolutely agreed” with those who said fatigue could be a factor.

“It is quite difficult to put into words what the real demands are for athletes who are in the top 15 and consistently on the podium in many disciplines,” he says. “As Alex [Kilde] As we mentioned recently, it’s too much to have post-race media and awards at the top of the race calendar continuing into the afternoon, followed by a full evening schedule over multiple nights. It’s really too much. “I firmly believe fatigue at this point in the season has played a role in the injuries we’ve seen recently, including mine.”

Shiffrin knows what she’s talking about when it comes to competing in multiple disciplines. The American is arguably the most versatile alpine skier ever, and also the most successful. Despite her accident, she still ranks second in the women’s World Cup overall standings this season. And if she can get back on skis quickly, she could still hit the magic 100-win mark in the coming weeks. This season she has already won seven wins (five in the slalom, one in the giant slalom and one in the downhill) with five races remaining.

He insists he’s in no rush. “Of course there is a lot at stake this season,” he wrote in his latest update. “But I also feel like there will be a lot of opportunities over the next few seasons.”

‘I had to convince myself that I had something to look forward to after my father died’

That’s good to hear because there was a time, a long time ago, when he was very close to quitting the sport altogether. Not because of the risks, but because of the lack of motivation. The death of his father, Jeff, from head trauma in an accident at the family home in Colorado in February 2020 affected him deeply. Shiffrin drifted for a season or two. And after a poor, by his standards, Olympics in Beijing 2022, he addressed his unresolved emotions in an incredibly raw and powerful piece in The Players’ Tribune. The guilt he felt for now doing something alone that they had always done together. The grief he said he would never be able to overcome.

“I’m in a very different place now,” he insists. “This year I’m definitely enjoying racing a lot more than last year… It’s been a process of getting to a place where I can enjoy racing and a lot of it is just time to be honest. I can’t say I’ve processed the pain. I still have many memories of it hitting me with an overwhelming wave. And that’s no less painful. But I think I have a slightly stronger toolbox now.

“There are things I care about in the world, in sports, in my life. Things I have to look forward to. Whereas the first season, the first two seasons, it was like a daily battle to convince myself that I had something to look forward to. He was such a driving force in my life. I didn’t really want to know what it felt like to race without my dad.

“It’s been a process to get to a place where I can enjoy competing, and honestly a lot of it is just time. Hopefully, you know, seeing the name ‘Shiffrin’ out there and seeing my mom and me and my brother and our family, like doing the damn thing… living our lives … I think it’s very important for people to find a purpose. And right now, I feel motivated. I feel motivated.”

‘I can still feel my father’s hug after my first Olympic gold medal’

What to do? What does Shiffrin still want to accomplish? One hundred wins? This seems obvious. Two hundred wins? Laughs. “I can guarantee you I won’t make it to 200. So I don’t have a definitive timeline, but I feel like I’m much closer to the end of my career than the beginning. I feel the weight of everything on my body, just physically. But I’m also looking forward to the opportunities that may come after sports. But more importantly, we can only come after sports. Because in order to do this sport the way I want, I have to be 100 percent determined. I might not necessarily have a full tank of gas to keep doing this for longer. But I definitely have a few more years.”

Then what? Another Olympic gold medal? I remind him of one of his lines: Player Tribune The piece recalls her first gold medal at Sochi 2014 (18-year-old Shiffrin became the youngest slalom champion in Olympic history). He didn’t remember how he “felt” at the end of the race, only the fact that the first person he hugged at the finish was his father. “She was crying,” Shiffrin wrote. “He pulled me tight and was so proud. I can still feel that embrace.” Can we win another gold medal at Milan-Cortina in 2026?

Shiffrin smiled again. “It would be nice to have. But as we’ve seen lately, we can’t find good things in skiing… I may not be the favorite at the next Olympics. I may never win another World Cup race. The only guarantee is that I win 95 races. And that’s it. In Petra, Aleks As you’ve seen with and many other athletes this season, these can disappear in the blink of an eye.

“There’s a chance I’ll never get to 100, even though I’m only five away. So I don’t take it lightly.”