Olympic champion Frida Hansdotter: Mikaela Shiffrin will "always be the girl, a superstar” despite Beijing disappointment

Frida Hansdotter loves pressure.

That pressure to perform pushed her to a surprise slalom gold at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games.

Her two fast aggressive runs stunned the field that included the defending Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin for the gold medal, to date 'her best memory of the Games’.

Though now retired from alpine skiing competition, the 37-year-old Swede's focus has still been on the slopes at Beijing 2022.

She’s watched the world’s greatest skier endure some of the most difficult moments in her career- a third 'Did Not Finish' (DNF).

The ensuing criticism, the strain on Shiffrin - not the kind of pressure Hansdotter likes but one she knows far too well.

“Our sport, slalom is brutal. It's just one minute and you have to go full, and anything can easily happen,” she told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview.

“Mikaela has always been so strong. So now when she's one or two DNFs then it's a shock for everyone because she's always up there chasing those medals.”

“She has done something that most of us just dream of. So, if she didn't succeed in this Olympics, she will be at the next Olympics. She has so, so many good results and she's a superstar." - Frida Hansdotter on Mikaela Shiffrin.

“I would tell her, 'You are good, be strong and go for it. Just show them that you will be back',” she continued.

That is something the three-time Olympian has always liked doing, trying to be more considerate and sensible.

Traits that could have endeared her fellow athletes to support her candidature for the IOC Athletes’ Commission.

Athletes at the Winter Games in Beijing elected her alongside Martin Fourcade, to represent their voice within the Olympic movement, for a term of eight years.

The Athletes' Commission