Why everyone should be watching Mikaela Shiffrin this Olympics

Mikaela Shiffrin, of the United States, races down the course during a training run for the World Cup downhill ski race, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021, in Lake Louise, Alberta.

Mikaela Shiffrin, who at 26 is perhaps the best alpine skier in American history, already has a few lifetimes worth of memorable wins under her belt as she heads into the Winter Olympics. But it is a loss she witnessed when she was a child that still sticks with her.

When she was 6 years old, the US hosted the winter games in Salt Lake City, where all-time great men’s skier Bode Miller already had two silver medals and was cruising towards a third in the slalom. All he needed was to complete a second attempt with a passable run to rack up a medal. Instead, the New Hampshire native went all guns blazing in an all-out play for gold, only to make an error on the course and lose his shot at a third podium. Miller hiked back up the mountain to finish out his run.

“Even at a young age,” Ms Shiffrin has said. “I could relate to that.”

Her career has shattered record after record, but she would need a whole lot of grit to keep going all the same—experiences she will carry as she represents the US in Beijing.

The lightning fast alpine skier, who competes across all events rather than specialising like many of her competitors, made her debut on the World Cup stage at 15, and has been notching unprecedented feats ever since. In 2014, at 18, she became the youngest Olympic slalom champion in history. With three Olympic medals, six world championships, and 73 World Cup races, she’s the most decorated American alpine skier in history, male or female. In 2015, she once won a World Cup race by more than 3 seconds, the largest margin of victory in nearly 50 years.

“Mika