Olympic legend embraces grief with simple focus on skiing

Skier Mikaela Shiffrin triumphantly returned to the pinnacle of Olympic glory with a simple mantra and with her late father in her heart

This most recent "No Distractions" post was going to be about another subject entirely, but then I heard this:

"Just to be able to focus and simplify in the moment."

Moments after winning gold in the women’s slalom at the 2026 Winter Olympics, Team USA’s Mikaela Shiffrin gave that answer when asked about becoming Olympic champion, again, 12 years removed from her Slalom win at the 2014 Sochi Games.

"What did you have to conquer to succeed, again, on this stage?" asked NBC Sports’ Cara Banks.

"That's a hard question," an emotional Shiffrin said at the bottom of the Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, course. The now three-time Olympic gold medalist then summed up what it takes to win for Olympians who strive for gold: focus and simplify.

Watch Mikaela Shiffrin's emotional reaction to winning gold at 2026 Winter Olympics

Let that simple mantra settle in for a moment. Seriously, stop reading this and just be in your thoughts for a moment.

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I found myself reaching for my phone to jot that quote down the moment I heard the gold medalist utter it. Imagine if we could all achieve that level of clarity in our own "big" moments?

She just wanted to ski for skiing’s sake.

"The stronger the heartbeat, the stronger the heart," Shiffrin said.

Carrying grief to victory

I was jostled by what Shiffrin revealed next. That she carried grief with her as she left the rest of the 2026 Olympic women’s slalom field behind her.

I was struck by what Shiffrin revealed next: that she carried grief with her as she left the rest of the 2026 Olympic field behind.

"I was starting to talk to my dad," Shiffrin said of what she thought as she took a moment for herself at the finish line. She lost her father six years ago. He wasn’t there when she struggled with her mental health, while failing to reach the podium at the 2022 Games.

Having also lost my father in 2020, I found myself choking up as Shiffrin spoke.

"This is a moment I've been pretty scared of for a pretty long time," the emotionally-vulnerable champ said. "Every new experience in life is an experience that he's not here to see, not in person. And I figured, 'might as well have a spiritual moment'... and just think about him. You know?"

I feel you, Mikaela.

Thank you for sharing, and thank you for being such an inspiration—not just as an American athlete, but as someone so relatable to those of us rolling along with incomplete circles after the death of a parent or loved one.