The 2024/25 FIS Ski World Cup season will have a lot for the fans to keep their eyes peeled. It’s been a month since the top-tier skiing tournament kicked off in Solden, Austria, but the USA’s skiing fans only began following the season in mid-November. The alpine skiing icon Mikaela Shiffrin began her FIS World Cup season at Levi, Finland, and, unsurprisingly, picked up her 98th victory without breaking much sweat. But even legends sometimes find it difficult to keep quivering hearts calm.

On November 23, Shiffrin bagged her 99th World Cup win in Gurgl. But while global superstars from other sports hail the 29-year-old for her spectacular form, Mikaela herself has often had to work double time to find her mojo. And she’s not afraid to share her experience with her fans, either.

Mikaela Shiffrin hasn’t always had a smooth sail

In her Instagram post from November 26, the 3x Olympic gold medalist shared how her journey has been since she first put on skiing boots. Recalling how it was to win the Ski World Cup as the youngest American ever in 2012, Shiffrin also noted how the triumph came with its own concerns. “I’m supposed to have my life planned out already,” she can be heard saying in the accompanying video. But others believe that Shiffrin’s candid way of handling the struggles has only proved to be a good thing for her career.

Shiffrin continued to confess, “I struggle often, feeling like I’m an imposter.” This, she revealed, also makes the question of legacy an even more pressing thing. However, Mikaela is convinced that her uphill climb would help spring skiers learn that the sport has its own set of hurdles and that overcoming those also isn’t something to be afraid of.

“I find it difficult to verbalize all the things I love to do beyond the sports and all the things I already did,” the American skiing phenom acknowledged that she can sometimes be her own biggest setback. But through her YouTube channel and Moving Right Along project, that’s exactly what Mikaela aims to change, she says. However, this wouldn’t be the first time that she talked about the mental ordeal that comes as an inherent part of alpine skiing.

The return of the prodigal daughter makes things more daunting

The 2024/25 season will be even more exciting for the USA’s skiing fans. Breaking her retirement after six years, 82-time World Cup winner Lindsey Vonn will join Team USA and begin her season in Switzerland in December. However, at the iconic Birds of Prey racecourse in Beaver Creek, Vonn will be seen as a forerunner. Understandably, the pressure to keep up with her legacy is heavy on her teammates, and Shiffrin isn’t immune to it either, especially with her past struggles with mental issues.

Last year, Shiffrin talked about how managing anxiety is a part of her daily chores and how mental health is something she constantly has to fight for. “It could be anything from just nervous feeling like butterflies in your stomach to at some points in my career actually having to vomit before the start of a race,” she spilled the beans, underscoring that a decorated skier like even herself can have cold feet before an important event. But she has also shown that overcoming such troubles isn’t much of a hassle either if you put your mind to it. So do you think Mikaela Shiffrin will be able to keep a lid on her dilemma and bag her historic 100th World Cup win on home soil (Killington) on December 1? Tell us below.