“Still Struggle”- Iconic Skier Mikaela Shiffrin Continues to Struggle After Her Father’s Untimely Passing

Dealing with a loss on a personal level is one of the hardest things in the world. For an athlete, it can sometimes be even tougher as they have to go out and perform regardless of whatever is going on in their lives. Not having enough time to come to grips with reality can be taxing on a person for years. Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin suffered from a similar incident involving her father.

Recently, Shiffrin opened up about the mental effects of her loss and what her plans look like for the future.

Mikaela Shiffrin, still haunted by her father’s death

2020 was not a peaceful year for Mikaela Shiffrin. She lost her father, Jeff Shiffrin, to an accident in their house. In the Winter Olympics that followed in 2022, Shiffrin failed to win even a single medal. The two-time Olympic gold medalist opened up about how her mental health has been affected since the incident.

She mentioned that losing her father has taken a toll on her, and she misses him every day. “I’ll be at practice and races where I have skied really well and still struggle. I see images of my dad and our family all together and feeling sad, and I haven’t figured out how to stop that yet.”

Shiffrin added, “There are times in which it changes my perspective and mindset for the whole day.” The skier has previously admitted to not being able to get out of bed. She contemplated quitting skiing, as her father was also a professional skier.

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After winning a historic 47th World Cup slalom race, Mikaela tweeted, “Dad, I hope you had a good view.” The alpine skiing icon says her goals on the hill haven’t changed. She said people always look to execute, especially on race day.

“Performance goals don’t change, but as you grow, sometimes you add value-based goals that are personal ones,” said Mikaela.

Jeff Shiffrin’s death

On 2nd February 2020, the Shiffrin family received the heartbreaking news of the passing of Jeff Shiffrin. The father of Mikaela was also an athlete who skied for Dartmouth college and helped Mikaela and her brother get into the sport. Jeff worked as an anesthesiologist for Vail Health and Anesthesia Partners of Colorado.

While the exact details of the death have never been publicly revealed, a few details about the unfortunate incident have suffered. The Eagle County coroner confirmed the cause of death as an accidental injury to the head, which was sustained in a fall. Meanwhile, Mikaela and her mother were in Europe, oblivious to what had happened back home.

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Mikaela and her mother, Eileen, made it to Jeff, who was in a hospital hours before his death. Jeff was with his daughter, wife, and son, Taylor, as he breathed his last.