Mikaela Shiffrin Quotes

Most people just see ski racing during the Olympics.

I just have tried to adapt to the constant changes that happen all the time in my schedule and try and find any sort of mini-predictability and balance within my very unpredictable life.

People watch the Olympics because they want to believe in heroes; I know I did.

It rained a lot in New Hampshire, and when I skied, the snow was icy and hard, and the mountains were small.

Out on the hill under the helmet, nobody sees your face or hair, but then you take it off, and they do – that’s the part I’m nervous about.

In the end, I want to be an inspiration to somebody.

It’s hard to find someone who is really genuinely happy for you if you are having success and they’re not.

I wouldn’t eat a 1,000-calorie bowl of spaghetti for dinner, but I’ve always loved pasta and think it’s a good addition to any meal and a great base for pretty much any vegetable. It’s also great when I have a nervous stomach before race day.

I can’t really picture a time when she won‘t be on tour with me. Mom has always been my best friend. But, yes, eventually she might get sick of it.

When I get back on snow, it’s almost like I travel back in time to that feeling I used to have. That youthful, 6-year-old, ‘nothing else matters,’ ‘you’re sort of the center of the universe‘ kind of a feeling.

Some sports, you see some athletes just walking around the gym not really doing anything, eating food. They’re first to the lunchroom, never lifting weights.

I have never limited myself by focusing much on being a ‘normal‘ teenager.

I don’t really have time or interest in doing a lot of the crazy things that some of my teenage peers do, mostly because I have such a hectic life that I don’t need to add to that chaos by creating my own teenage drama like a lot of teenagers do.

I’ve learned some quick tricks about how to fix my hair so I can dash somewhere unexpected and still be O.K. when someone stops me to take a picture.

Pasta is my superfood! Balance and moderation are the basis for my diet, though, so I also make sure to incorporate plenty of protein, fruits, and veggies throughout the day.

I have some really lofty goals that don’t even scratch upon the Olympics.

Whether it’s learning to hit a backhand in tennis, learning high school chemistry, or getting better at ski racing, I really believe with hard work and analytic preparation, you can skip a few steps and find the faster way.

You can’t ever make the perfect run, but you can make the best run, and then you clock the fastest time, and that’s a win.

I rely on breakfast to give me a kickstart of energy in the morning, so I choose my foods accordingly.

I don’t know what the point of life is, but I’m certain that five gold medals is not it.

People tell me an Olympic medal is a life-changing event. Except I don’t even think about the medal unless someone asks about it.

My dream job has always been to be a ski racer.

If you strive toward the perfect run, accepting that you will always come up short of that is very intriguing. It makes me think about how in life in general, we always want to strive toward perfection, but sometimes perfection would be the worst thing.

I’ve always wanted to do things as fast as possible.

My parents strapped a pair of plastic skis on my boots when I was two years old and sent me down our driveway in Vail. Of course, they were holding on to me the whole time, but that was my first experience ‘skiing.’

I’ve had a lot of people tell me, ‘Yeah, sure, you’re good at slalom, but wait till you get to the real events like downhill or super-G.’ I don’t like hearing that.

I just – I fell in love with the sport when I started to ski gates. Once I was allowed to start training gates around 6 years old, then I really fell in love with it.

After many of my victories, I hear people asking me these questions: ‘What else is there to win?’ And I want to shout, ‘What do you mean, what else? There’s so much else!’

I’ve always said my expectations are higher than what anyone else could put on me.

My whole thing is simple, well-balanced meals. I have to say, though, that I really like dessert. I try not to eat dessert every day, but I’ll have dessert every now and then.

I remember skiing being a family recreational thing.

I do doubles on Monday and Thursday, take Wednesday off or do easy cardio, do doubles on Thursday and Friday, and the weekend I just get outside and get active – jog or bike ride, or play tennis with my mom.

A perfect day for me would just be a day that goes the way I plan.

If you don’t think it’s possible to win five golds, go talk to Michael Phelps.

Here’s the thing. You can’t get ten thousand hours of skiing. You spend so much time on the chairlift. My coach did a calculation of how many hours I’ve been on snow. We’d been overestimating. I think we came up with something like eleven total hours of skiing on snow a year. It’s, like, seven minutes a day.

When I’m in the starting gate, it’s just me and the hill.

One thing I’ve learned from winning an Olympic medal is that it’s really exhausting.

During the season, one of the most important things to eat is the carbs. Protein’s really important, too, but it’s the carbs that are important because I have to consistently refuel for the next day.

I love traveling and seeing new things, learning the histories of different cultures. But I’ve always wanted to go to the Galapagos to see the giant turtles.

I’m not really seeing pressure as a negative.