“From the trauma of my dad passing away to the psychological side” - Mikaela Shiffrin reflects on the ‘trials and tribulations’ of an elite athlete

Mikaela Shiffrin is the winningest skier of all time. Over the course of her lengthy career, the American has won 99 World Cup races, and she recently opened up about the life of an elite athlete and the difficulties they go through.

Shiffrin first began skiing at eight years old and made her World Cup debut in 2011. Over the years, the 29-year-old has won 14 World Championships medals, 11 World Cup discipline titles, five overall World Cup titles, and three Olympic medals.

Recently, Mikaela Shiffrin sat down with the US Ski Team to discuss the life of an elite athlete. She opened up about how athletes at the top of their sport face the same trials and tribulations as others, saying,

“When I was eight, I absolutely fell in love. My whole, entire career, I've loved the feeling of making a turn better, more stable, more powerful, or faster. Oftentimes people feel like athletes are these, you know, superhumans or built different, that's not the case.”

“The truth is that we go through the same trials and tribulations and challenges that everybody goes through. Be it from the grief, from the trauma of my dad passing away, to the psychological side. Really, the only big difference that I can see is that elite athletes have an entire system of people to support them through that,” she added.

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Mikaela Shiffrin to compete at the 2025 FIS Alpine Ski World Championships

Shiffrin at the Courchevel FIS Alpine Ski World Cup (Image Source: Getty)

Mikaela Shiffrin began her 2024-2025 career having won 97 World Cup races, and she was poised to become the first skier to cross the 100-win mark this season. The American kicked off her year in Golden, Austria, where she was unable to make it onto the podium.

However, she quickly bounced back, winning her 98th and 99th races at the Levi and Gurgl World Cup stops. With this, Shiffrin has the opportunity to claim her 100th win at Killington on home ground. Unfortunately, the 29-year-old suffered a horror crash in Vermont, resulting in a puncture wound that required surgery and subsequently put the skier out of action for nearly two months.

Shiffrin returned to action on January 30 at the Courchevel World Cup, finishing 10th in the slalom event. Up next, the American has been named to the US Ski Team for the 2025 FIS Alpine Ski World Championships.

The event is scheduled to be held in Saalbach between February 4 and February 6. Mikaela Shiffrin will enter the competition as the defending champion in the Giant Slalom event.