Mikaela Shiffrin recently shared an inspirational message from her parents that motivated her to succeed at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The alpine skiing champion ended her Olympic medal drought by winning a gold medal in the women’s slalom event at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics 2026.
Mikaela Shiffrin Shares Inspirational Message From Parents Post Olympic Success
The Instagram page of the International Ski Federation [FIS] published a video clip of Shiffrin’s conversation on the show “On The Edge: World Cup Racing,” which is currently streaming on Disney+. In her words:
“One of the most beautiful lessons that my parents have ever taught me was like, ‘It’s not over till it’s over.’ So no matter what the labels were, prodigy, phenom, the next greatest skier. All of those things were sort of thrown about in the same sentence as my name. And through it all, my parents were like, ‘Focus on your technique.’ Like, there’s a long way to go. Whatever crosses you path is probably going to be unexpected, maybe exciting, maybe challenging. Sorry.”
Shiffrin was born into a family of alpine skiers. Both her parents, Jeff and Eileen Shiffrin, competed in alpine skiing at the college level. Jeff Shiffrin had unfortunately passed away in an accident around February 2020.
READ MORE: Mikaela Shiffrin Breaks Her Silence on a Potential Olympic Comeback
In a previous interview, Shiffrin recalled how her parents transformed her into a champion skier by introducing her to the sport at a very young age. In her words,
“I think my parents and the way my family taught me how to ski. My parents taught me some pretty key fundamental values in ski racing, and skiing period, when I was young and started on skis when I was two and a half years old on skis, I wasn’t racing at that time, I guess that’s obvious.”
When Shiffrin won the Olympic gold medal, she remembered her father, as she mentioned in the post-race interview:
“This was a moment I have dreamed about. I’ve also been very scared of this moment. Everything in life that you could do after you lose someone you love is like a new experience. It’s like being born again. And I still have so many moments where I resist this, ‘I don’t want to be in life without my dad’. Maybe today was the first time that I could actually accept this reality.”
The 30-year-old alpine skier is all set to end the 2025-26 season on a golden high. Apart from the Olympic gold medal, Shiffrin has also won the slalom category at the FIS World Cup, and if everything goes as planned, she’ll end the season with her FIS World Cup trophy overall after three years!
