In an exquisite run, Mikaela Shiffrin dominated the slalom to end a 12-year Olympic medal drought. That extends to 22 years in the slalom. But all that was over as Shiffrin picked up her third gold medal. It came on the back of crushing disappointments in other events. But she stepped up, came into her own and finished on a high. That earned the American plaudits from all over and even a special gift from X and Elon Musk.

Already verified on Instagram, Mikaela Shiffrin has been waiting for that special blue tick on Twitter (now called X) for years. Now, on the back of her third Olympic gold medal, the American finally got it. And she then took to X with a cheeky first post, pulling the social media giant’s leg in the process.

“It took my third Olympic gold medal🥇 (fourth Olympic medal overall) to get verified on Twitter, but here I am. I’ve made it 😅😂,” Shiffrin posted on X.

The verified blue tick is a sign of an official account on several social media platforms, including X. However, while paid users on the platform can buy a blue tick, Shiffrin’s tick was issued by the company to verify her identity. All that came on the back of the American establishing herself as one of the greatest alpine skiers in history.

Shiffrin’s quip echoes similar athlete reactions, like cricket star Sachin Tendulkar’s 2023 selfie mimicking the blue tick after losing his, captioned as his new ‘verification’ amid X’s paid model.

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Her record at the World Championships and World Cup circuit showcases that, but her performance for her third Olympic gold defined that. Mikaela Shiffrin kicked off her gold medal run with a time of 47.13 to establish a giant lead of 0.82 seconds. That alone broke a record, making it the largest first-run lead in the event since 1960.

As if that wasn’t enough, Shiffrin then added on to it and quite literally flew in her second run as she extended it to 1.5 seconds. That effectively sealed the gold medal with the most significant winning margin in Olympic alpine skiing since 1998. To put it in perspective, the last seven Olympic women’s slalom margins combined add up to 1.51 seconds before Shiffrin’s run.

Mikaela Shiffrin talks about potentially retiring in the near future

Not only that, her run made Mikaela Shiffrin the oldest American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in Alpine skiing. She also holds the record as the youngest winner of the Olympic gold medal in the event, when she won it in 2014. Now 30, there are questions about whether Shiffrin is closing in on retiring. However, the American indicated that her plans are far from finalized.

“Four years feels like a lifetime, so it feels so far away. But I know how fast time can go. So I won’t say no, but I’m not going to say yes either,” Shiffrin said as per Sports Illustrated.

Shiffrin went on to talk about returning to the World Cup circuit, where she leads the overall leaderboard by a considerable margin. It does mean that barring an absence from the remaining races, Shiffrin will tie the record for the most overall titles by a woman (6). With the Olympics over and the circuit back in action, the American is set to participate in the super-G races.