Mikaela Shiffrin, 30, could also be a three-time Olympic gold medalist, however there was a time when simply listening to the identify of the Video games felt overwhelming.
On Friday’s episode of “Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce,” Shiffrin stated preparing for one of many greatest competitions in sports activities took years of labor, a lot of it away from cameras and crowds.
“My Olympic experiences have been so wildly completely different. Now it is 4, and I am actually conscious, proper now, of the entire work that is gone into — really, not the medal — however the work that is gone into displaying up on race day, and having the ability to present up with the mentality and the snowboarding that I needed to do,” Shiffrin instructed podcast host Kylie Kelce.
The grind continued even away from the slopes, she stated, particularly when it got here to managing the strain that comes with the Video games.
“Even this summertime, the quantity of conversations I had with my psychologist speaking about all of the completely different emotions surrounding the Olympics, and like desensitizing to the phrase, and imagining the vibe, imagining the colours,” Shiffrin stated.
She added that she even visited Paris two summers in the past to get a really feel for the Olympic atmosphere and “desensitize” herself to it.
Not solely that, Shiffrin has structured her life round staying bodily and mentally prepared always.
“There’s simply a lot life outdoors of the game, however we achieve this a lot of our life, you realize, it is all geared in the direction of the game,” Shiffrin stated, including that she hasn’t had alcohol in two years as a result of it tends to make her sick.
“And I am like, I am unable to afford to be sick, actually ever. So, we’re simply going to not have any alcohol. Like, we’ll drink electrolytes, man,” Shiffrin stated.
It nonetheless throws her off that one thing she’s educated for over years could be determined in seconds.
“However you spend a lot time doing all of this work and coaching for one thing, after which the second it occurs is, you realize, 47 seconds, or like within the blink of an eye fixed, and it is simply actually bizarre,” she stated.
Shiffrin is extensively thought of the best alpine ski racer of all time, with 108 World Cup wins. She made her Olympic debut on the 2014 Sochi Video games at age 18, profitable her first Olympic gold in slalom and turning into the youngest athlete in historical past to take action.
On Wednesday, almost a decade later, she earned one other gold medal in slalom — her first Olympic victory since 2018.
This is not the primary time Shiffrin has spoken in regards to the steps she takes to remain targeted.
Talking to WDSU Information on Friday, she stated she intentionally averted social media within the lead-up to her races on the Winter Olympics.
“If I used to be scrolling my feed or one thing, I simply knew I used to be going to come back throughout issues that may get into my mind that may be under no circumstances conducive to the expertise that my crew and I got here for,” Shiffrin stated.
On Saturday, she instructed NBC Sports activities that she selected to not “set expectations” for herself heading into the Milan Cortina Games — a mindset she stated in the end helped her ski her finest.
“On race day, I felt like I skied my finest snowboarding, and that was actually my objective,” she stated.