Photo: Noam Galai/Getty Images; Media Foundation/Getty Images
Mikaela Shiffrinis speaking candidly about the pressures she faces in the spotlight as an Olympic champion.
“Having one of the most recognized and biggest voices in sports right now talk about this and show how real it is to [struggle], … it makes it a little bit easier to talk about,” Shiffrin says. “It gives all of us athletes the ability to say, ‘Oh, you’re not alone feeling that way. I’m not the only one who feels pressure.’ "
Noting how “every sport has its own version ofthe twisties” — a phenomenon Biles, 24, suffered from during the Tokyo Olympics where gymnasts lose their understanding of where they are in the air — Shiffrin adds, “I would say every athlete has felt that on some level.”
“For some sports it means you miss the goal, and for some sports it means you land on your neck instead of your feet, or you fall as you’re racing down an icy mountain,” she continues. “… And maybe some sports have a little higher risk, but the pressure is always there.”
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Shiffrin says that “not every athlete can relate to the kind of pressure that Simone has to deal with, and has dealt with, but it’s good to have the conversation.”
“And it’s good to feel like we can be open about that,” she adds. “I think it also makes it easier to figure out how we can deal with the pressure better when we all admit that it exists.”
RELATED VIDEO: Simone Biles Opens Up About the ‘Magnitude’ of Her Mental Health Struggles: ‘It’s Hard’
Hoping that she will “take that momentum through Beijing,” the athlete says it is “hard” to wrap her head around her wins, but she doesn’t let the number define her.
“It’s an amazing number, it’s a cool statistic, it definitely makes me smile, but at the end of the day, the thing that’s gotten me to this point is focusing on my skiing, improving and just skiing faster and always pushing that limit,” she tells PEOPLE. “… So I’m more thinking about, like, my skiing and constantly trying to improve there, then counting the victories.”
And though she will admit that there is “absolutely” a part of her that wants to beat Ingemar Stenmark’s alpine skiing record of 86 wins, Shiffrin explains that is “not where I choose to keep my attention for any long period of time.”
“At the end of the day, you can drive yourself crazy looking at numbers and thinking about records and if you’re going to break it or if you’re not going to break it, and you can set yourself up to feel disappointed for the rest of your life,” she says. “But at the end of the day … my whole career, it’s been successful. It’s been highs and lows but I’m really proud of it. And I’m still racing. I’m not done yet, but I can look back and feel proud already.”
To learn more about all the Olympic hopefuls, visitTeamUSA.org. Watch the Winter Olympics, beginning February 3 on NBC.
source: people.com
