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Mikaela Shiffrin is talking candidly in regards to the pressures she faces within the highlight as an Olympic champion.
Whereas lately chatting with PEOPLE forward of the 2022 Winter Olympics, the 26-year-old alpine ski racer — who has won two golds and a silver medal at Olympic Games in years previous — mentioned that the stress she faces generally is a lot, however having somebody like fellow Olympian Simone Biles communicate out about psychological well being and the obstacles athletes face makes it simpler to navigate life out and in of her sport.
“Having one of the crucial acknowledged and largest voices in sports activities proper now discuss this and present how actual it’s to [struggle], … it makes it just a little bit simpler to speak about,” Shiffrin says. “It provides all of us athletes the flexibility to say, ‘Oh, you are not alone feeling that approach. I am not the one one who feels stress.’ “
Noting how “each sport has its personal model of the twisties” — a phenomenon Biles, 24, suffered from through the Tokyo Olympics the place gymnasts lose their understanding of the place they’re within the air — Shiffrin provides, “I’d say each athlete has felt that on some degree.”
“For some sports activities it means you miss the objective, and for some sports activities it means you land in your neck as an alternative of your toes, otherwise you fall as you are racing down an icy mountain,” she continues. “… And possibly some sports activities have just a little greater threat, however the stress is all the time there.”
RELATED: The Beijing Olympics Are in 100 Days! Here Are 10 Team USA Athletes to Watch
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In the course of the Tokyo Summer Games earlier this yr, Biles eliminated herself from four out of five gymnastics event finals to focus on her mental health, saying on social media that her “thoughts & physique are merely not in sync.”
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Shiffrin says that “not each athlete can relate to the type of stress that Simone has to take care of, and has handled, nevertheless it’s good to have the dialog.”
“And it is good to really feel like we could be open about that,” she provides. “I feel it additionally makes it simpler to determine how we are able to take care of the stress higher once we all admit that it exists.”
RELATED VIDEO: Simone Biles Opens Up In regards to the ‘Magnitude’ of Her Psychological Well being Struggles: ‘It is Exhausting’
Trying forward, Shiffrin is happy to participate within the upcoming Winter Video games, particularly after marking her seventieth profession win on the World Cup ski opener that occurred final month.
Hoping that she’s going to “take that momentum via Beijing,” the athlete says it’s “laborious” to wrap her head round her wins, however she does not let the quantity outline her.
“It is an incredible quantity, it is a cool statistic, it undoubtedly makes me smile, however on the finish of the day, the factor that is gotten me so far is specializing in my snowboarding, enhancing and simply snowboarding sooner and all the time pushing that restrict,” she tells PEOPLE. “… So I am extra occupied with, like, my snowboarding and always making an attempt to enhance there, then counting the victories.”
And although she’s going to admit that there’s “completely” part of her that desires to beat Ingemar Stenmark’s alpine snowboarding file of 86 wins, Shiffrin explains that’s “not the place I select to maintain my consideration for any lengthy time period.”
“On the finish of the day, you may drive your self loopy numbers and occupied with data and if you are going to break it or if you happen to’re not going to interrupt it, and you’ll set your self as much as really feel disillusioned for the remainder of your life,” she says. “However on the finish of the day … my entire profession, it has been profitable. It has been highs and lows however I am actually pleased with it. And I am nonetheless racing. I am not finished but, however I can look again and really feel proud already.”
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