Mikaela Shiffrin to avoid press for ‘foreseeable future’
American Alpine skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin will not participate in media interviews as she navigates the remainder of the 2022 Winter Olympics, according to U.S. Olympic Team spokesperson.
"Mikaela (nor her mother/coach Eileen) will not be doing any media for the foreseeable future,” the spokesperson said in a text message reported by Reuters, adding, “Thank you for respecting her/their space right now."
Shiffrin’s Winter Olympics have been a bitter disappointment thus far for the 26-year-old Alpine great after she uncharacteristically skied out in back-to-back signature events, the giant slalom and slalom.
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Following her elimination in the slalom, Shiffrin participated in over 45 minutes of media interviews while processing the raw emotions. “It makes me second guess the last 15 years, everything I thought I knew about my own skiing and slalom and racing mentality,” she told NBC’s Todd Lewis at the base of the Yanqing Alpine Skiing Center hill.
Weighing heavily on Shiffrin’s mind at the Games has also been the loss of her father, Jeff, who passed away in 2020 after an accident at the family’s home in Edwards, Colorado.
“I would really like to call him,” she said following the slalom.
Shiffrin could compete in as many as four remaining events at the 2022 Winter Games, though she and her coaches had yet to make public any decisions regarding the remainder of her schedule in Beijing.