Mikaela Shiffrin’s tense slalom run leads to a ‘miracle’ for her U.S. teammates

In the finish corral, Shiffrin told U.S. journalists, “I didn’t find a comfort level that allowed me to produce full speed. So I’m going to have to learn how to do that, what to adjust, in the short time we have before the other tech races.” (The giant slalom is Sunday, and the slalom next Wednesday). Shiffrin is deeply aware of the Olympic cloud hanging over her head; everyone is. “I’m careful not to make excuses,” she said.  “It’s a sport with a lot of fine margins and variables. And this kind of thing happens more often than not in training, where it’s like, “Oh, I don’t feel comfortable enough.”

And that is fair. Shiffrin is very much entitled to be the narrator of her own experience and to judge it on her own terms. But the statistics strongly suggest that “this kind of thing” almost never happens to her in World Cup races, which might lack the unique pressure of the Olympic Games, but they are the highest level of an exacting sport and Shiffrin is the most accomplished Alpine skier in history. So the Olympic drought that started in Beijing and continued in Cortina has been, and continues to be  baffling.

But, another thing. Even as Shiffrin explained her own experience, she heaped praise on Johnson for her downhill run. “I was so excited watching Breezy this morning,” she said. “It was after winning gold in the downhill and then doing 48 hours of media, and I was so inspired by that.”  She is unfailing generous with praise and respect, powerful qualities. (She also knows from whence she speaks: After winning her GS gold in 2018, that same 48-hour media blitz she described seemed to wear her down, and may have contributed to a surprising fourth-place finish in the slalom).

Moltzan, who trains and travels with Shiffrin and battles her for (mostly giant slalom) podiums, said, “She’s been so gracious and kind and supportive. She is a beautiful winner, but also really a beautiful…loser. And that takes a lot of skill and it’s really difficult.”

Two races lie ahead for Shiffrin: After a gruesome giant slalom injury 15 months ago (she was impaled by a gate), she has recently returned to the podium in that event and is at least a medal threat, if not a favorite. She has been largely unbeatable in slalom. It is challenging for anyone watching or chronicling her performances to reconcile her last four Olympic slaloms and giant slaloms with her legacy, which will endure. But she is here again, surrounded by rings, anticipated. Nothing is granted, only earned.