On February 9, 2022, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Alpine Skiing Women's Slalom Competition was held in the Yanqing National Alpine SkiIng Center Competition Area. Surprisingly, the brightest star of the U.S. sports delegation, the 27-year-old Winter Olympic champion and world champion Mikaela Shifflin, known as the "world's first alpine skiing women's slalomer", lost again in the first round, thus failing to finish the women's slalom match after failing to complete the first round of the women's giant slalom.
The name Vaughn, the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic champion, was once popular in the world alpine skiing arena, is recognized as the "first beauty of the Winter Olympics", and is also the American alpine skiing goddess, and since Vaughn retired, the 27-year-old Mikaela, who is also from the United States. Shiffrin took over Vaughan's mantle and became the new queen of alpine skiing in the world. At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Shivlin won the women's slalom championship. At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Shivlin won the women's Grand Slalom championship. Shifflin said he would strive to compete in all events at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and strive for more gold medals.
Mikaela Shifflin was born into a ski family, her mother won seven medals at the FIS Alpine Skiing Event from 1999 to 2003, and her father, Jeff Shivlin, was a doctor, an anesthesiologist to be precise, and a photography enthusiast. The parents met and fell in love with each other for skiing, and gave Mikaela the same love as her brother, making the pair fall in love with skiing.
In particular, the 2-year-old Shifflin began to learn to ski under the guidance of her parents and quickly showed her outstanding skiing talent, and her mother was also her alpine skiing initiation instructor, and she accompanied her daughter around for a long time. Father Jeff, as long as he has time, he takes his beloved camera to record every moment of his daughter's growth.
In times of setbacks, her parents have always given her the greatest support, and let the child join the club and hire a high-level coach to teach the child to ski. In March 2011, Shiffrin began participating in the World Cup and advanced to the top 10 of the World Cup in November of the same year. A year later, Shiffering won his first World Cup title.
At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, at the age of 18, Shifflin made a splash by winning the women's slalom championship in alpine skiing, becoming the youngest women's slalom winter Olympic champion in history. At that time, Shivlin made a bold statement: "In the next Winter Olympics, I will win 5 gold medals!" Although this goal was not achieved at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Schifflin still won the gold medal in the women's grand slalom in alpine skiing at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
On July 25, 2019, Mikaela Shifflin made her ambition clear: "When I was very young, my goal was to become the number one in the world. It's not just about winning an Olympic medal, because winning an Olympic medal doesn't mean you're the number one in the world, it just means you're the best on that day, and it's harder to be number one in the world. ”
Mikaela has her own philosophy of life, she said: "Including the World Championships, the Winter Olympics, all the trophies and medals in a season are an important part of my career, because it means that the whole season is consistently so good, and maintaining the heart of the strong is the most important thing in my career." ”
In 2020, her 65-year-old father, Jeff, died of a head injury on the road, and Mikaela struggled to accept this harsh reality for a month. "In many cases, my father taught me many valuable life lessons. He told me that the road to championship means that if you want to be the best, you must first dare to dream. Many of my father's words will always accompany me growing up. Mikaela said.
And injuries followed, and as she became a hot star in the world's alpine skiing arenas, she also became a target for others to catch up with, and various challenges came. "After coming to the top of the world and reaching the world's advanced level, I will also be a little confused, and the competitors around the world will stare at you, and suddenly there is no catch-up goal in front of me." Shifflin said, "Many times what needs to be overcome is the fear and uncertainty in your own heart, and the only thing that needs to be surpassed is yourself." ”
This time, the skilled Shiffrin came to the Beijing Winter Olympics, the goal is naturally to impact the gold medal in multiple sports such as slalom, big slalom, super big slalom, downhill, etc. The gold rush point almost covers the entire alpine skiing project, which is more appropriate to describe in one word, called alpine skiing all project rushing gold. "I know it's not easy and it takes a very hard preparation, both physically and psychologically, for that. Preparations must be meticulous, including technical and tactical, physical reserves, accommodation and catering, and even time difference. Shifflin said.
Last winter, Shifflin was unfortunately infected with the new crown pneumonia virus, and after entering the New Year, Shifflin recovered her health and played a stable role in the World Cup, which established her confidence in the Beijing Winter Olympics. Shifflin said: "My training is more normal and reasonable, the competitive state has gradually adjusted to the best, in the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics, I hope I have a good performance, and strive to get more Olympic medals." ”
Despite her strength, Mikaela Shivlin also has her childlike side. In the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic athletes' personal belongings display, Mikaela showed that her personal belongings were two blankets printed with cute two little lambs.
In fact, Mikaela Shiffrin is versatile, she usually loves to play tennis and football. What's even more unexpected is that every time she returns from a trip, her favorite thing to do is play a piano song, and she also likes to write lyric poems, which is very different from the Mikaela who pursues speed on the field, but this is the most real Mikaela Shivlin.
No one would have imagined that the game would be like this, which also disappointed many American media reporters and overshadowed the snow fans who liked Shiflin around the world. In fact, objectively speaking, Shiflin's strength is still quite strong. However, previous injuries have affected her state to some extent, especially at the end of last year, Shiflin was tested positive for new crown pneumonia, resulting in the loss of a very important period of training and game time, which is probably an important reason for Shiffrin's failure to finish consecutive matches.
However, no matter what, Shifflin is still the queen of alpine skiing in the hearts of snow fans around the world.
Images are all profile pictures
Source Beijing Daily Client | Journalist Kong Ning
Edited by Meng Ziwei
Process Editor Wu Yue