Mikaela Shiffrin laid bare the raw nerves of her long-awaited speed comeback on Sunday, revealing post-race that anxiety peaked before her super-G run in St. Moritz, where she told her team repeatedly: “I was so nervous, there were a couple of times I kept saying it to my team.”
The admission came amid a wave of positive reflections despite registering a DNF—her third straight super-G without a finish—after straddling the penultimate gate on the challenging Corviglia course. Starting with bib 31 in her first speed event since January 2024, Shiffrin appeared strong and competitive through most intervals, potentially heading for a top result before the late error.
Yet the 30-year-old all-time World Cup wins leader (104 victories) emphasized the mental and emotional triumph of the day. “We had a good plan,” she added in quotes shared widely after the race, noting that the nerves ultimately sharpened her focus for “solid turns” over 98 percent of the run.
Shiffrin called the experience a “positive stepping stone,” rebuilding confidence on high-speed elements like jumps after limited practice in recent years. The outing marks a key phase in her Olympic-season ambition to compete across disciplines at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Games.
The race itself saw New Zealand’s Alice Robinson deliver a stunning breakthrough, winning in 1:14.84 for her first super-G victory and third of the season. France’s Romane Miradoli finished second (+0.08), Italy’s Sofia Goggia third (+0.19), and American legend Lindsey Vonn a close fourth (+0.27) in her ongoing comeback.
As Shiffrin shifts back to technical events, her candid vulnerability underscores the human side of elite skiing—nerves and all—while signaling she’s far from done pushing speed boundaries.
