Mikaela Shiffrin’s path through the Winter Olympics was far from the seamless march to victory many had predicted. One of the most accomplished alpine skiers in history, she opened her campaign with heartbreak, narrowly missing the podium alongside teammate Breezy Johnson in the team combined. An 11th-place finish in the giant slalom followed, deepening doubts about her form. But everything shifted in the slalom.

In collaboration with Procter & Gamble, EssentiallySports’ Shreya Varma caught up with Mikaela Shiffrin on the ground in Milan, during the Winter Games, for an exclusive conversation covering insights from the global sporting stage. Shiffrin opened up about the complexity of the Olympic experience that exists far beneath the surface of medal counts and podium finishes.

“The Olympic experience for all of the athletes is, I mean, it’s crazy. It’s so overwhelming. Really, really exciting,” she began, her voice carrying the weight of someone who has now lived through four Olympic cycles. “We show up with, you know, the most amount of inspiration, and you’re motivated, and you’ve been training for this, and, you know, you show up with the feeling like everything is possible.”

The 30-year-old explained how the journey for an athlete gets more complicated as they progress, stating, “And as you get, every single day we get farther into the Olympics, you see these inspiring performances from your fellow athletes, and then you also see this sort of, the dark side of it, which is crashing, falling, and, you know, maybe not achieving these great, great dreams that we all have.”

For every athlete standing on the podium, dozens more walk away with shattered expectations. Shiffrin knows both sides intimately. In Beijing, she arrived as a favorite but was nowhere near the required pace to secure a single medal. The American skier had a DNF in the giant slalom and slalom, while she finished ninth in the super-G event. Then, in the downhill, and the team combined, her performance wasn’t enough.

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“And you can see the criticism that comes from fans. It can come from haters. It can come from the media, for sure. Yeah. And just sort of the stories that get told about you when everybody is out here doing their best anyway,” she admitted.

However, Mikaela Shiffrin is glad to see athletes prioritizing themselves over the sport, stating, “I’ve been loving hearing so many athletes talk about their life outside of this sport, and how, you know, many athletes right now are prioritizing their happiness, their family, their physical health, their mental health, things that are really like part of your soul, you know, prioritizing their soul before this sport. And then because of that, it’s helping them do better, be stronger within the sport.”

The redemption arc of Milan was itself a testament to her statement. Early disappointments in the Games could have easily caused her to crumble under the weight of expectation. However, she fought her way out of criticism to grab her career’s third Olympic gold medal, which is her second one in slalom.

“But we walk away from the Olympics, most people don’t walk away with a medal. There’s so many thousands of athletes who are competing, and there’s really just a handful who have a medal. So there’s disappointment that exists here, for sure. We like to talk about the inspiring moments, but I think it’s important to say, like, you can be incredible and strong and powerful and inspiring even without a piece of medal,” she said, acknowledging the statistical reality.

Well, Shiffrin’s reaction before her gold medal run said it all.

Mikaela Shiffrin was ready for Olympic glory

Coming to Milan, Mikaela Shiffrin had won six of seven starts and already clinched her ninth slalom Crystal Globe in the skiing season. And at a point when she was leading during her practice run, her message was quite clear to the audience.

“It was a really a good run. For me, it felt really clear. I felt pretty excited. It’s hard not to be….A little bit of butterflies to be sure. But I feel prepared to take on the nervousness,” she said before the slalom event.

The 30-year-old sensed the possibility of winning the desired medal. And following the Beijing disappointment, she was completely ready for her redemption.

Shiffrin’s first run was brilliant, with her already securing that top place with 47.13. Then came the medal-sealing performance, as she completed her second run in 51.97. It wasn’t the fastest, but it was enough for her to secure that gold medal with a time of 1:39:10.

“Today I showed up for the skiing. I wanted to have two runs with really strong slalom skiing. Now to be through that is a little bit challenging to process. In the end, today, showing up – that was the thing I wanted most. More than the medal. Now, to also get to have a medal is unbelievable,” the American skier said following the event.

It was a job well done for the 30-year-old, and her words provided enlightenment to athletes, who altough leaving Milan empty-handed, would gain valuable experience that would shape their careers.