Sports Illustrated - USA (2022-02)

expectations, compounded by the dizzying logistics. High

winds postponed races, forcing organizers to compress

the competitions. Three events scheduled for a six-day

window—giant slalom, slalom and super-G—were instead

held in half the time. The wind never relented, leading

to additional delays. Shiffrin still triumphed in GS, but

the win exponentially increased her obligations with the

press and her sponsors.

Thus began a dreaded domino effect. She finished fourth

in the slalom—just as in her nightmares, eight-hundredths

away from another medal. She pulled out of two events.

She did race in the combined, summoning the fortitude

necessary to win silver.

A performance that could have been exulted was framed,

by some, as a failure. Against skiers who had more open

schedules and more time to rest, she had won two medals

and competed in three events. Didn’t that show strength?

When Shiffrin stumbled upon the unavoidable nega-

tivity online, she started to believe the worst of all the

noise. The gist: She had choked. “The disappointment

from those failures feels incredibly real,” Shiffrin says.

“Even now.” She resolved to “never feel that way again.”

Oh, love to some is like a cloud

To some as strong as steel

Changing her Olympic mindset took time, energy and

conscious effort after the f lop that wasn’t in South Korea.

She needed to halt the conversation, a process she started

with 17 wins in 25 starts in the 2018–19 World Cup season.

But mourning slowed Shiffrin’s momentum. In 2020,

she lacked focus, struggled to find energy, operated in

an understandable fog for months. She felt exactly as

she had vowed not to, but for entirely different reasons.

As she struggled, she pulled out of speed events at com-

petitions, recalling Biles and the competitive ecosystem

they shared.

Mich., native became the

youngest runner to finish

a marathon on all seven

continents. Three-time

Olympian Emily Cook

recruited her for aerials.

HENRICKSEN

18 ye ars old › Snowboarding

At X Games Aspen 2021,

the Mammoth Lakes,

Calif., native became

the first U.S. man to win

gold in slopestyle since

Shaun White in 2009.

RYAN

COCHRAN-SIEGLE

29 ye ars old › Alpine Skiing

After recovering from a

fractured neck suffered

in a January 2021 crash

in Kitzbühel, Austria, the

Starksboro, Vt., native is a

top U.S. medal contender.

THESE OLYMPIC

ROOKIES ARE

READY TO MAKE

A MARK ON THE

WINTER GAMES

POWDER

FRESH

BY JAMIE LISANTI

REORIENTATION

In 2020, Shiffrin struggled to find energy and

recall basic things while racing, until she heeded

her dad’s advice: process over outcome.

THOMAS LOVELOCK (SHIFFRIN); TOM PENNINGTON/GETTY IMAGES (VINECKI); KOHJIRO KINNO (HENRICKSEN); ALEXIS BOICHARD/AGENCE ZOOM/GETTY IMAGES (COCHRAN-SIEGLE)

BEIJING WINTER OLYMPICS