"I'm closer to the end than to the beginning" - Mikaela Shiffrin weighs in on retirement

Mikaela Shiffrin recently opened up about her thoughts on retirement, emphasizing she is in no rush to hang up her skis anytime soon. The American skier expressed her uncertainty about the timing of her retirement.

With three Olympic and 14 world championship medals, Shiffrin has established herself as one of the most accomplished athletes in skiing history. She rose to fame at the age of 16 after earning a World Cup podium for the first time in December 2011 in the giant slalom event in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic.

A year later, she claimed her first World Cup title in Are before winning her first Olympic gold medal in the Slalom event at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. Four years later, at the 2018 edition in PyeongChang, she went on to bag two more medals.

The Vail native collected a gold and a silver medal in the women's giant slalom and combined events, respectively. She enjoyed a successful run at the 2021 World Champiosnhips by securing a gold and a silver medal in combined and giant slalom and two bronze medals in super-G and slalom events.

During an interview with Eurosport, when asked about her retirement, Shiffrin said she is closer to the end of her competitive journey than the beginning.

"I can't see the end of my career right now," Shiffrin said. "I can't picture it but, yeah, I'm closer to the end than I'm to the beginning."

"We've had that conversation" - Mikaela Shiffrin opens up on having a discussion about retirement with her fiance Aleksander Kilde

Mikaela Shiffrin and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde attend The 2023 ESPY Awards at Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California. (Image Source: Getty)

Mikaela Shiffrin opened up about having retirement conversation with Aleksander Kilde.

Shiffrin suffered a dangerous knee injury after encountering a severe accident during a World Cup downhill race in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy in January 2023. Kilde also met with a serious accident in January 2024 during the Wengen downhill.

Highlighting the challenges they navigated as a couple Shiffrin reflected on the time when they both considered retirement.

"We've had that conversation. We've both had moments where we were like: 'I'm so tired of it, it's time'," she said.

"I'm assuming there's a shift in the mentality from a moment of doubt to like between moments of motivation to more doubt and less motivation. And right now, I'm still pretty much always motivated. But there's challenges that we face. And his injury... it took a while for him to say he wanted to come back," Shiffrin added.

Mikaela Shiffrin will compete in her first race of the 2024/25 season on October 26, 2024, in Solden, Austria.