“It’s exhausting and it’s hard to make eye contact and it’s hard to know what to say and start a conversation with someone,” admitted Mikaela Shiffrin, capturing the awkwardness that can come with fame. Iga Świątek reflected similarly, saying, “On one point this (tennis and media presence) was helpful, but on the other hand, if you become famous and everything, it’s tougher also to trust people.” Both stars shared the human struggle that comes with fame back in April 2023 on an Instagram live shared by Mikaela Shiffrin. And that support has continued…

Iga Świątek stayed in top form all week at the 2025 Cincinnati Open, not dropping a set even under pressure. After a strong start from Jasmine Paolini, Świątek fought back to win 7–5, 6–4, using powerful serves at key moments. Looking ahead, her next goal is the US Open, starting August 24 in New York. Amid all the competition, she has a cheerleader in America: Mikaela Shiffrin.

The final of the Cincinnati Open is counted as a WTA 1000 final, and with this win, Iga now has a record of 11-2 in the WTA-1000 finals. Her two losses in these finals came against Barbora Krejcikova (Ostrava Open 2022) and Aryna Sabalenka (Madrid Open 2023). ESPN tweeted this fact on their official X account, and how could the GOAT of skiing hold herself back from cheering her friend? She posted, “Let’s goooooooo Iga!! Jazda 🤙🤙”. And this friendship and support go both ways…

On February 23, 2025, Mikaela Shiffrin won her 100th World Cup race in Sestriere, Italy, becoming the first skier ever to reach triple-digit wins, and guess who was among the big lists of congratulators? Iga Świątek. She tweeted a video exclaiming, “Wow! What you are doing is monumental. Congrats on your 100th World Cup win. It even sounds absurd.”

On November 16, 2024, Shiffrin claimed her 61st Slalom and 98th World Cup win, along with her seventh reindeer, Rori. She made a tweet with the names of all her reindeer. And Swiatek looked forward to having a reindeer named after her. “Waiting for ‘Iga'” she quoted the tweet. Shiffrin promised that she would name a reindeer Iga in Levi during the 2024/25 season. She replied, “Well…next year you come to Levi and we will make a deal 🤝, k?! 😅🫶?!”

But do you know how this beautiful friendship began? It’s when the tennis player called the skier her role model.

Mikalea Shiffrin was Iga Świątek’s role model

Be like Mikaela Shiffrin, this was the advice the Polish athlete got from her sports psychologist, Daria Abramowicz, and she took it quite literally. She started following the skiing legend who was still on her path to becoming a legend. As she watched her, she could not help but become a fan.

In 2021, Iga expressed her admiration for Mikaela Shiffrin during an interview with Tennis Channel. “She’s just a good role model, and I really respect her.” Iga was impressed by Shiffrin’s mental strength, seeing how her positive self-talk and outlook help her stay strong and focused throughout a long season. A clear instance?

In 2020, Shiffrin lost her father, Jeff Shiffrin. Emotionally devastated, she kept competing at the top level. Her mental strength became an example in 2021 at the World Championships in Cortina, where she not only competed but also won a bronze medal in the Super-G.

To this day, the loss still hurts her, but she has etched herself as the Greatest Of All Time in her sport and not just by what she does on the snow but also, how she fights her mental battles. Probably all of us have something or the other to learn from Mikalea Shiffrin, no?