Three Years After Demise, Mikaela Shiffrin Reveals Father’s Training That Saved Her From Many Injuries: “Helped My Legs Develop”

Mikaela Pauline Shiffrin was featured in TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in 2023. She has achieved great results in competitions from a young age. However, she experienced several difficulties recently, including the passing of her father in 2020, a COVID-19 positive test in late 2021, and failing at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, winning none of her six events. Multiple highs and lows throughout a season decimated by the pandemic. These difficulties put her resiliency and mental tenacity to the test.

Shiffrin is the sole owner of the 88 World Cup wins and holds an identifiable strength that she utilizes in her sport. For another, she encourages and inspires future generations of female athletes. Compared to other athletes in the sport, Shiffrin is known for her ability to avoid injuries. The G.O.A.T. highlights the necessity of having a solid support system, accentuating not achieving her career highs alone. In a recent interview, she credits her late father for introducing a form to avoid injuries.

Mikaela Shiffrin keeping her father’s legacy in mind

In an interview with Norah O’Donnell for “Person to Person,” she talked openly about coping with her grief following her father’s unexpected passing. She also speaks about breaking world records and inspiring future women athletes, saying “you just keep going.”

Shiffrin gave an exclusive excerpt from her interview to Women’s Health, in which she says, “My dad was looking into those issues when I was 10, 12 years old and he was making sure that my knees were in a really neutral position and [teaching me] body weight training. I think it helped my legs develop in a more straight way”

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Jeff often addressed the need to create recreational opportunities for more athletes at a low cost. The Jeff Shiffrin Athlete Resiliency Fund (JSARF) was established after his demise in collaboration with the Shiffrin family and other generous donors. The fund supports athletes’ Olympic goals by awarding need-based grants to individuals and teams. Each member of the 2020–21 national team got a $1300 COVID–19 hardship payment because of the fund’s achievement.

The alpine skier has only ever experienced one severe injury, a ruptured medial collateral ligament in her knee in 2015, which prevented her from competing for two months. One of Shiffrin’s biggest strengths has been her ability to maintain a healthy lifestyle and motivation despite her hectic schedule. Jeff Shiffrin, Mikaela Shiffrin’s father, played a significant role in her life and professional skiing career.

The instrumental support behind Shiffrin’s skiing development

Jeff Shiffrin, standout athlete, member of the Dartmouth ski team, and Psi Upsilon. From the early days on the local ski slopes in Vail, Colorado, he supported Taylor and Mikaela’s athletic endeavors. Jeff’s live-action race photos attracted attention from across the globe while Taylor and Mikaela competed in NCAA ski competitions.

The anesthesiologist strongly believed that athletes do not necessarily enjoy what they do from the beginning. One must nurture, ignite, and design a path that is purely joyful. And further adds that the equation has nothing to do with the final results. 65-year-old Jeff Shiffrin died following an accidental fall at the family’s Colorado home.

Shattered by the incident, Mikaela doubted if she would ever compete again, and even contemplate quitting skiing. Mikaela Shiffrin said in an article for The Players’ Tribune that “The real truth is that I’m neither O.K. nor not O.K. It really depends on the day, and it has almost nothing to do with how fast I came down a mountain”

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Shiffrin was referring to her mental health and how it can fluctuate from day to day. She returned to skiing after taking some time to mourn, carrying on her father’s legacy.