In a revealing Vogue interview dropped February 7, 2026, alpine skiing superstar Mikaela Shiffrin delivers a refreshingly humble take on her legendary status ahead of her fourth Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina.
The 30-year-old Colorado native enters the Games as the undisputed winningest World Cup skier ever—male or female—with 108 career victories (including a dominant slalom win in Špindlerův Mlýn, Czech Republic, just weeks ago that clinched her record ninth slalom Crystal Globe). Her nearest rival? Retired legend Ingemar Stenmark at 86.
Yet Shiffrin brushes off the “GOAT” hype with grace. “On paper, yes, most winning World Cup ski racer of all time,” she admits. “But sports are meant to be opinion-based.” She insists icons like Lindsey Vonn, Bode Miller, and Marcel Hirscher deserve equal debate, loving how the label sparks fan discussions rather than crowning absolutes.
Twelve years after her breakout slalom gold at age 18 in Sochi 2014 (and more hardware in PyeongChang 2018), Shiffrin approaches Milano Cortina with zero statistical pressure. She’s racing three events: slalom, giant slalom, and team combined. Each Olympics has thrown curveballs—from norovirus chaos in Russia to COVID bubbles in Beijing—so she’s ditching expectations entirely: “The Olympics are never going to be what you think they’re going to be.”
A scary 2024 puncture injury in Killington, Vermont—where a gate mishap left her “impaled” with excruciating pain and required surgery for deep muscle trauma—still lingers as a reminder of the sport’s razor-thin margins. “It was mind-numbing,” she recalls. “I don’t want to go too far beyond my comfort zone.” But she’s channeled that caution into a stellar rebound, crediting lifelong risk management for keeping her at the top.
What really lights her fire isn’t trophies—it’s the daily hustle. Shiffrin gets inspired by killer training sessions: focused laps, mountain-side video breakdowns on iPads, even shoveling snow off courses with her team. “I don’t know that I’ve ever been inspired to keep skiing based off of a race,” she says. “I’m inspired by the work we put into it.”
Off the slopes, her podcast What’s the Point? (launched October 2025) is gaining traction. Episodes feature deep dives with Bode Miller (her childhood idol, who calls ski racing his ultimate self-expression beyond words) and upcoming chats with her mom/coach Eileen. Shiffrin dreams of landing Stephen Colbert someday, admitting the show helps her step out of her introverted shell and connect with others’ perspectives.
As the Milano Cortina opening ceremonies near, Shiffrin—effervescent even over shaky Zoom—arrives with nothing left to prove, only passion to share. Her first event, the Women’s Team Combined Slalom, tips off February 10 at 8 a.m. EST. Whether she stacks more medals or not, the queen of the slopes keeps redefining greatness through grit, humility, and pure love for the process.
