Mikaela Shiffrin, the greatest ski racer in the history of the sport, has spent quite some time wrangling with risk. But on Wednesday, she may have finally found peace after ending her eight-year Winter Games medal drought and bringing some solace to the U.S. ski team. So naturally, emotions ran high for the 30-year-old, and what followed was part hilarious, part embarrassing.

While speaking with hosts Hoda Kotb, Craig Melvin, and Carson Daly on the TODAY Show, Shiffrin got deep into the emotions of her journey and her late father’s influence. In the middle of explaining her spiritual growth over the last few years, she accidentally let an “f-bomb” slip out on live television.

“There’s been, definitely, a spiritual journey the last years that are just― I don’t know. I took the moment, and I just said [expletive],” Shiffrin said during the broadcast.

As soon as she realized what she had said, her eyes went wide with shock. The embarrassment only grew when, in her panic, she accidentally let out a second curse word. She quickly covered her mouth with her hands, looking both mortified and amused by the ” mouth slip” moment happening in front of so many viewers.

The TODAY crew was incredibly supportive, laughing along with her to make her feel at ease.

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Craig Melvin quickly stepped in to comfort her, saying, “It’s OK! It’s OK! It’s OK!”

“We’ll pay the fine,” Kotb added. “Don’t worry about it.”

Hoda Kotb even added that if it were possible to love her any more than they already did, that was the day it happened. Shiffrin hung her head and smiled, admitting that the interview certainly didn’t go the way she had planned, but the raw honesty only endeared her more to fans watching at home.

While the interview went viral for the laughs, Shiffrin’s performance on the snow was truly legendary.

She won the slalom by a massive 1.50 seconds, which is the largest winning margin in an Olympic Alpine event since 1998. This win made her the first American skier to win three Alpine gold medals, cementing her status as the greatest of all time. After years of Olympic pressure and heartbreak, Shiffrin proved that she is still at the top of her game.

It’s not just the athlete — in fact, the broadcaster for the Winter Olympics is also winning in some respects.

The TODAY Show experiences a significant surge in viewership

NBC and its streaming service, Peacock, are showing many hours of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. For the week ending February 6, 2026, the TODAY Show’s total audience grew by 23%, according to data from Nielsen. This means about 624,000 more people tuned in compared to the same time last year.

Overall, the TODAY Show averaged nearly 3.32 million viewers. This put it well ahead of its main rivals, Good Morning America (2.91 million) and CBS Mornings (1.84 million). In fact, TODAY Show captured 41% of all morning show viewers across the three major networks, showing just how much the public is focused on NBC right now.

In the 25-54 age demographic—the metric most prized by advertisers—the results were more nuanced. While TODAY Show experienced a slight 4% year-over-year dip (dropping 27,000 viewers), it still maintained its lead with 648,000 viewers in that category. In contrast, Good Morning America saw a 5% increase in the demo to 495,000, while CBS Mornings suffered a sharp 33% decline, falling to 254,000. 

Despite the slight demographic dip, TODAY Show remains the season-to-date leader in both total viewers and the key 25-54 age audience, cementing its position at the top of the morning news hierarchy during a period of unprecedented emotional and journalistic intensity.