Shiffrin

[skiJ]

Yeah. Olympics are way overrated from my perspective, but I'm clearly in the minority. The world cup is so much more important and she is the best of the best. I too hope she can move forward and bring back the 'fun' of why she started doing this to begin with.

+1 Thank you. skiJ

[skiJ]

It is crazy to think this thread is already 10 years old. We've watched Mikaela go from a teenage phenom that was full of "I shouldn't be able to do this at this age" energy, to one of the most consistent and successful technical skiers that has ever lived. She has grown and matured each step of the way. But along with that success, pressure to be two people has steadily mounted. It has been a steep icy slope to both be “the GOAT” skier and the marketing face of women’s alpine skiing. Not just here in the US but globally. The world cup kind of flies under the global awareness radar (as do most winter sports). However, the Olympics bring it all that pressure and expectation to a head. I’m not going to go back through all of the posts in this thread to find it but I remember saying that I really hope she doesn’t end up getting chewed up and spit out by the sport personality marketing machine. But I think we have come to that point where she has slipped on that metaphorical icy slope and is falling into a crevasse.

IMHO, for past Olympics, Vonn took a lot of the heat and pressure off of Mikaela (Vonn certainly dealt with that pressure in her own unique ways). This Olympics, there is no one to share the burden. A combination of major life events over the last couple of years has also likely added to an already extremely high stress level that NO ONE commenting here can even begin to comprehend. So for those that are shocked or saying she is spoiled or “just get back to it”, maybe just step back a bit and try to put yourself where she is. It is probably a pretty dark place right now. Sitting on the side of the course was likely a result of everything coming crashing down in her thoughts which can be physically debilitating. There have been few people in any sport that have a burden of expectations on them as she has on her for these two weeks. A large percentage of comments on her Facebook posts are “my daughter looks up to you as her inspiration” type stuff. As such a pure personality, she has continually heavily leaned into those expectations which have made taking any failure WAY harder than we know. She has been keeping that up for 10 years and the back-to-back failures on the biggest stage have made her feel like she is letting so many people down as well as doubting her own ability.

Maybe she really does need a break from the spotlight to refocus herself. However, this late in her career may be too late to late to take a break and come back at a “podium every race” type level. Circling back to the Simone Biles comparison, maybe she decides to walk away completely before her mental state leads to a bad crash. It is completely understandable if she does. At this point she owes us nothing. She has been a great competitor to watch and cheer for. I wish the best for her whatever she decides to do.

merits a top-of- the next page ^bump^

excellent post.
Thank you. skiJ

[googledidoo]

Fuck these olympics in in the first place. Zero natural snow, zero fans, zero fucks given by an insane, evil dictatorship that runs concentration camps out in the open. These games had an big * before they started and it's only getting worse. I feel bad for the athletes that have such a short window but on the flip side Jacobellis just became oldest gold winner in snowboarding history so there can be time...

Fuck the Olympics in general. Completely corrupt organization.

[ill-advised strategy]

I think it’s obviously brutal to have it go wrong on the big stage…

But if you’re her, and you’re so consistent, there’s also an aspect of having that happen at all…even alone in training with nobody watching.
Like, just experiencing some kind of repeated malfunction situation with your subconscious mental skiing system, your kind of background line-picking, edging, angle-finding, pressure-adjusting muscle memory stuff that usually never ever fails.
That shit will shake you, like you lose trust in those subconscious programs that should just be running background while you, conscious-you, makes executive adjustments to it. When that whole setup malfunctions and the trust and confidence collapse and focus shifts it can really break down your whole skiing and people just fall apart.

I might be wrong, but that’s what I see here.
I will be emotional if anything else really good or really bad happens with her in this olympics. I was pretty affected seeing her immobilized with shock last night.

[ill-advised strategy]

I’ve hardly ever wanted to give somebody a hug more, honestly.

[From_the_NEK]

I’ve hardly ever wanted to give somebody a hug more, honestly.

+1

[SumJongGuy]

dude -
you have almost no filter - I recognize that, and I respect your candor about what your Family has been through ;
I believe with your teenage daughter, You have more empathy for MS than many here...

But
If you are going to address mental health -Especially for someone else who may be in-A-crisis - PLEASE., do so Very Seriously.

Lots of people do Not deflect Stress with humor - especially Dark humor.

There are half-a-dozen Excellent posts on this page expressing Great support for MS ;
Please - quote those --


MS - do what you need to do For You ! and
come back to Ski Racing if-And-when You want to !

NEK said it best,
MS owes us nothing.

live your Life !
( With love )

with my Respect. tj


( this morning, FranzKlammer comes to mind for me -
Franz struggled. and came back to win the DH title in 1983.

forty years later, he remains one of the most beloved Downhill Racers, And he remains an ambassador. ... )

pps - I believe the reports that MS and her coach, Mike Day, sat off-course, between the fences, and did not delay the race -
And
I give MS credit for attempting the interview ( and was genuine and honest. and shattered. )

She will always have my (support).

No lies detected

I’ve hardly ever wanted to give somebody a hug more, honestly.

Super glad her mom was there by her side.

[ill-advised strategy]

You know…she’s recently formed a nice couple, and I could see her just being ready to be off the world tour and be a mom. That’s a thing, she’s that age, and it’s powerful. Who knows?

[uglymoney]

You know…she’s recently formed a nice couple, and I could see her just being ready to be off the world tour and be a mom. That’s a thing, she’s that age, and it’s powerful. Who knows?

Yep. She needs a good backpacking summer. Or she wants both but doesn't have her brain organized for that yet. Like me trying to learn a dance. Nowhere to store that data. She has to undo what worked then and redo what works now.

How do you compartmentalize something that has been your everything forever? Probably not easy.




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[Danno]

I think it’s obviously brutal to have it go wrong on the big stage…

But if you’re her, and you’re so consistent, there’s also an aspect of having that happen at all…even alone in training with nobody watching.
Like, just experiencing some kind of repeated malfunction situation with your subconscious mental skiing system, your kind of background line-picking, edging, angle-finding, pressure-adjusting muscle memory stuff that usually never ever fails.
That shit will shake you, like you lose trust in those subconscious programs that should just be running background while you, conscious-you, makes executive adjustments to it. When that whole setup malfunctions and the trust and confidence collapse and focus shifts it can really break down your whole skiing and people just fall apart.

I might be wrong, but that’s what I see here.
I will be emotional if anything else really good or really bad happens with her in this olympics. I was pretty affected seeing her immobilized with shock last night.

Yeah, I think that's what she was talking about with the whole rethinking the last 15 years and a lot to process stuff.

I’ve hardly ever wanted to give somebody a hug more, honestly.

+2

[tmokes]

Jacobelis is hot!


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[skiJ]

Yep. She needs a good backpacking summer. Or she wants both but doesn't have her brain organized for that yet. Like me trying to learn a dance. Nowhere to store that data. She has to undo what worked then and redo what works now.

How do you compartmentalize something that has been your everything forever? Probably not easy.




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+1. excellent post -

Thank you. skiJ

[EWG]

I have a friend that had an almost identical thing happen, on the same stage, with a similar backstory. Stuff happens. They were heartbroken, devastated. Picked themselves back up and refocused. It's a work in progress, but I have faith in them. No matter what we want to think, even the very greatest aren't perfect. They don't make every final shot, they don't complete every pass in the 4th quarter, make every kick, have perfect form for every race, nail every gate. Remember the Jordan commercial about all the game winning shots he missed?

Unless you are a complete psychopath, personal events and family issues effect you. I love the person I mentioned above because they are a true, real, kind, wonderful person - so not a robot. I don't know Shiffrin, but she seems the same. That's what makes them special. And they are fallible. And that's fine.

Now we just get to root for this person in Mikala, that has given us so much entertainment and joy and inspiration, and hope to god she gets back on the horse the next race. Any medal is enough - if she got something in the combined it would make this so much better for her.

I'm invested because I want her to be the GOAT, so I can watch the GOAT real time, something that you don't often get to do. She might be the GOAT in the end, but first and foremost, she's a person.

Go Mikala. We are rooting for you. Let your work, skill, talent run for you. Let the greatness out.

[snojones]

I repeat my previous assessment.

Lindsey Vonn made me proud to be a skier. Makela makes me proud to be human.

No matter how her career unfolds... she will always be a a winner in my book.

[snowaddict91]

A lot of good thoughts on the last page or so of this thread.

[skiJ]

I repeat my previous assessment.

Lindsey Vonn made me proud to be a skier. Makela makes me proud to be human.

No matter how her career unfolds... she will always be a a winner in my book.

x100. Thank you. skiJ

[summit]

what snojones said

It’s like everything is wing attack plan R with this dude.

Exactly.

SJG and some others need to take a deep breath. It's just the fucking olympics and fuck the olympics.

[54-46]

Re Skiing :
World Cup > Olympics (and especially these BS Olympics)

Re Shiffrin herself:
Hoping she recovers and gets well and right in her mind. Can totally relate to tumultuous times for her and the grief that she must have been processing. Don’t really care if it’s this week. Would love to see her keep skiing. All-time great skier and a pleasure to watch.

[east or bust]

I think it’s obviously brutal to have it go wrong on the big stage…

But if you’re her, and you’re so consistent, there’s also an aspect of having that happen at all…even alone in training with nobody watching.
Like, just experiencing some kind of repeated malfunction situation with your subconscious mental skiing system, your kind of background line-picking, edging, angle-finding, pressure-adjusting muscle memory stuff that usually never ever fails.
That shit will shake you, like you lose trust in those subconscious programs that should just be running background while you, conscious-you, makes executive adjustments to it. When that whole setup malfunctions and the trust and confidence collapse and focus shifts it can really break down your whole skiing and people just fall apart.

This is spot on. Especially for it to happen in two consecutive races.

I hope she is able to compartmentalize her emotions, that will be huge for moving forward.

[rbciii]

Lots of sentiment that the WC is more important than the Olympics and while that is true in determining who is the best skier, it isn't the sentiment of the US Ski Team. They are all about Olympic medals. WC races get almost zero eyeballs in the US, but the skiing in the Olympics gets a ton. Eyeballs = money and the ski team needs money to operate. Whether we find the Olympics valuable or not the team does and the team has no doubt made it clear to all the athletes how important these two weeks are. MS is the face of US skiing and she takes pressure very personally. I really feel for her. If she had two silver medals right now it would feel better, but there would still be talk of it being a disappointing start to the games for her.

Personally, I hope that MS can find happiness, whatever that means for her and wherever she needs to be to find it. I hope her relationship with Kilde is a huge comfort to her right now. She has provided us with so many great viewing experiences that when she decides to step away she will have earned a lifetime of adoration from the skiing world. GOAT, or just incredible skier, she certainly an awesome person.

[mtnjam]

Re Skiing :
World Cup > Olympics (and especially these BS Olympics)

Re Shiffrin herself:
Hoping she recovers and gets well and right in her mind. Can totally relate to tumultuous times for her and the grief that she must have been processing. Don’t really care if it’s this week. Would love to see her keep skiing. All-time great skier and a pleasure to watch.

Re: BS Olympics, yes, it's a great stage for these athletes to compete on, but the rest of the logistics and operations of a very unnatural "winter" Olympics resounds in my mind as a political stunt. Conditioning to make panoramas during broadcasts look natural and snowy even though most anyone paying attention can see it's all manmade or whatever the fuck this kind of snow is. Kind of like the jump venue with cooling towers and what looks like some sort of power plant/industrial park at the venue. Supposedly a permanent structure that will undoubtedly become a dusty fallen apart "hill" sometime in the near future. I heard one of the broadcasters (Bode?) say that the snow at the venues is like no other snow on Earth. Yeah, manmade snow isn't exactly natural, but it seems more natural than the surface the skiers are competing on.

Just saw another video of this Olympics ladies slalom with the race course worker sending a competitor off track and dangerously leaving a drill bit or whatever the hell that was. How does this happen? Sending racers down a course without first clearing the course of hazards and course workers. Too much rush to get through the racers or just shitty course management?

Re: Shiffrin, unfortunate that the outcome of two of her races so far have been a DNF. She is an absolutely amazing skier to watch and how she manages to get speed out of her skis where speed doesn't happen has been amazing to watch. Understanding your body and the gear you're using is everything for these athletes competing at this level. Part of me wonders though, if Shiffrin needs to move from the sweet little girl next door persona to a role of a leader and a confident woman mentally. I mean she grew up basically ski racing and never really had time to grow up doing what most 18-25 year old females do. I think she needs a little time off from the spotlight and start skiing with her friends recreationally. I think some powder therapy would do her well and she'd crush it with inspiring ladies like Ingrid, Lel and plenty of others showing her the way down steep pow lines. That or I'm sure she'd make a really awesome Mom.

[gtid]

The comments that these Olympics are bullshit is spot on. I thought I heard that the alpine events area only gets something like 10 inches of precip a year, what a fucking joke. The downhill course was beyond dangerous, I’m surprised no one died. These Olympics are such a political stunt. Did anyone see the women’s Nordic sprint event? The evergreen trees lining the course looked like a god damn Christmas tree stand in a Home Depot parking lot. They even had manmade snow sprayed on them for effect.


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[jmedslc]

Is there anywhere to watch the run ?

Edit to add link

https://youtu.be/lIt72-cQuoA

[jackstraw]

The comments that these Olympics are bullshit is spot on. I thought I heard that the alpine events area only gets something like 10 inches of precip a year, what a fucking joke. The downhill course was beyond dangerous, I’m surprised no one died. These Olympics are such a political stunt. Did anyone see the women’s Nordic sprint event? The evergreen trees lining the course looked like a god damn Christmas tree stand in a Home Depot parking lot. They even had manmade snow sprayed on them for effect.


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Stephen King
@StephenKing

The Olympics are fucked up this year.

https://twitter.com/StephenKing/stat...CzsbXxurApAAAA

[54-46]

Lots of sentiment that the WC is more important than the Olympics and while that is true in determining who is the best skier, it isn't the sentiment of the US Ski Team. They are all about Olympic medals. WC races get almost zero eyeballs in the US, but the skiing in the Olympics gets a ton. Eyeballs = money and the ski team needs money to operate. Whether we find the Olympics valuable or not the team does and the team has no doubt made it clear to all the athletes how important these two weeks are. MS is the face of US skiing and she takes pressure very personally. I really feel for her. If she had two silver medals right now it would feel better, but there would still be talk of it being a disappointing start to the games for her.

Personally, I hope that MS can find happiness, whatever that means for her and wherever she needs to be to find it. I hope her relationship with Kilde is a huge comfort to her right now. She has provided us with so many great viewing experiences that when she decides to step away she will have earned a lifetime of adoration from the skiing world. GOAT, or just incredible skier, she certainly an awesome person.

Good point about $ for US Ski Team and pressure. US (my country) sucks at caring about non-Olympic skiing.