Mikaela Shiffrin is one of the best alpine ski racers in the current era of the winter sport. Currently, she is chasing her 100th win, which might sound like a dream come true for the American athlete, despite her dominant run in the recent slalom events in Finland, and Austria. All of her accolades have made her one of those alpine ski racers who would be looked forward to by the future athletes of the sport.

So what’s this exact term called? Legacy, right?! Shiffrin has achieved everything in the sport that she adores on her own. Surely, she had her support systems behind her, cheering for her during her ups and downs, but the concept of legacy is something that has always been in the mind of the American due to mostly everybody questioning her all the time about her future aspirations, which is also something she doesn’t understand herself. And to clarify on this she has shared her feelings considering all the accolades and the moments that have contributed to her alpine skiing journey.

Mikaela Shiffrin’s honest admission

After her 99th World Cup victory at Gurgl, Austria, Mikaela Shiffrin has become one of the most anticipated alpine ski racers to be looked forward to in the next event. She is going for her 100th win, that too at Killington, which is the home turf of the American. However, during these pressured moments, she has treated her YouTube subscribers with her own web series’ new season.

In Moving Right Along’s Season 3, Episode 1, the alpine skier has mentioned about a common question that she often encounters, stating, “So, people have been asking me about legacy, about what I want to do when I retire. They have been asking me this for years.” Furthermore, she revealed how this query was not something new to her, stating, “But the first time I was asked was quite a come-to-moment for me because I was 19 years old. So, I’m 19 years old thinking, ‘I’m supposed to have my life planned out already?’ like I’m just, I’m doing this, I’m committed to this, and the rest of the world was already thinking about what I was supposed to be doing off the snow. And the legacy question is so intriguing because it does feel loaded.”

Shiffrin made her World Cup debut on March 11, 2011, when she was just 15 years old. Eventually, she secured her first World Cup victory in a night slalom in Are, Sweden. The feat made her the second-youngest American to do so and made her a prodigy to look forward to. Furthermore, she stood up to the expectations of the fans of the sport, and now she has 99 World Cup wins to her name, and potentially 100 in a few days.

Even though, after so many years, Shiffrin is troubled with the concept of legacy, stating, “It feels like you’re supposed to know what the legacy of your life is going to be, a 29-year-old, is that true? Is that real? Because of me, legacy is an ongoing thing but I certainly don’t know how that’s going to look exactly at 29. Maybe I’m just overthinking it, but I find it hard to verbalize exactly all the things I’d love to do beyond the slopes, and all the things that I’m already doing.”

Having that many accolades to her name is something that Shiffrin isn’t bothered about. But, the constant questions about the legacy that she will be leaving behind after she ends her tenure in the sport, is a statement that she doesn’t want to think about while she is in between her professional alpine skiing career. The 29-year-old has been in the sport since she was just a teenager, but every time she has been in the snow, she has enjoyed every single adrenaline hit that she has received and cherished all the emotions that have gone through her, whether it was sweet or bitter.

The last time Shiffrin was seen on snow was back in the slalom Gurgl, Austria on November 23. It was also the race where she secured her 99th win and made her a step closer to making history. Surely, there’s a ton of anticipation and expectations all over again on the American alpine skier, but she is just more than determined, and looking forward to the race.

One step closer to etching her name among legends

The current season has featured two races, one in Finland and the other in Australia. However, the World Cup racing would move to the United States and will be hosted in Killington. The venue is quite interesting as it is the home turf of Mikaela Shiffrin, who will be a favorite heading into the event. She is chasing her 100th win, which is something that was once unthinkable to obtain in the sport. Surely, alpine skiing had a ton of athletes, but the one who was as close as Shiffrin was the Swedish skier Ingemar Stenmark, who had a total World Cup win of 86, active from 1973 to 1989.

The American alpine skier’s accolades are also something that has left her stunned with her own talent, as she has talked about it in many post-race interviews. “So, from the outside, it looks like it is supposed to happen this way, but it’s certainly not easy–I am not taking that for granted, but I hope to do a good performance in front of the home crowd,” said Shiffrin after her race in Austria, as reported by Ski Mag. While she has her own set of doubts, she is optimistic that she will have a moment to remember in Killington.