American Mikaela Shiffrin makes history as most successful female World Cup skier

Christine Brennan:

You alluded to it, how she burst on to the scene as a teenager, winning national titles and World Cups quicker than anyone that we'd ever seen, and incredible staying power in a sport where there's often injury, obviously.

It's on edge. As you're watching, your heart is up in your throat as you're watching anyone tried to ski. And, time and time again, she has been able to win World Cup races, win, as you mentioned two Olympic gold medals, an Olympic silver medal.

But then came Beijing. And this was going to be that crowning achievement, potentially winning five medals, who knew how many gold, instead, none, absolutely none, as she skied off the course or had disappointment after disappointment.

And the way she met that, the way she talked about it, the class and the dignity, she described the honesty of how difficult it was, I think endeared her to people. But we also had to know there was more to come, because she was still incredibly young, 27. She's going to be 28 in March. And so here's the next chapter.

And it's this season, and then all the way, as she says, going to the 2026 Winter Olympics. So it's not just about the Olympics, even though that is what we, as mere mortals, focus on.

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