This means that while the Olympics mean everything to the public, they are only part of Shiffrin’s important legacy.

And she doesn’t quite know how to solve it.

“There are external factors that really make the Olympics more important. Every time I go to the Olympics, I feel like I was subconsciously aware of that. But I was mostly naive. Or maybe a little bit blind,” Shiffrin, 30, told USA TODAY Sports.

“I think people now consciously understand how much they value that two-week period once every four years, and I have no idea what to do with it.”

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This isn’t because of what happened at the Beijing Olympics, where Shiffrin had a Groundhog Day-like nightmare. Although she was expected to win medals in multiple events, she was unable to complete the slalom, giant slalom, and alpine combined events, leaving her empty-handed.

To put this into context, she only had two DNFs in the past three seasons. She gave birth three times in 11 days in Beijing.

Shiffrin’s personal disappointment was compounded by the amount of abuse she received online, with trolls flooding her social media accounts to criticize and mock her. Some suggested that the then-26-year-old should retire. Some said she should not return to the United States.

It’s cruel, but Shiffrin’s feelings about the Olympics were already complicated.

she is not alone.

Winter Olympians in particular compete in the World Cup every season and hold a World Championship every year. Many consider them to be a better measure, even if it happened when most of the world wasn’t looking.

“Everyone here is very focused on the Olympics, but we all have a lot of big careers outside of the Olympics,” said Paula Moltzan, who has been on the podium four times at this season’s World Cup. “So, for me, I would love to perform on the day of the Olympics. But if that doesn’t happen, there are many other races where I can perform and show my best skiing.”

That’s not to say the Olympics don’t mean a lot to Shiffrin. that’s right. She, like almost every other athlete competing in Milan-Cortina, grew up dreaming of the Olympics. And she has had more success at the Winter Olympics than any other athlete.

Her first Olympic gold medal in the slalom at the 2014 Sochi Olympics announced to the world that she was the next great American skier. His second appearance in the giant slalom, four years later, remains one of the next. of Highlights of her career.

She also won silver in the individual all-around in 2018, one spot shy of Julia Mancuso’s U.S. women’s record.

But Shiffrin is driven by process, fabrication, tweaking, and training in an endless pursuit of perfection. Medals and titles are just a reflection of that. Consistency and longevity are her goals.

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Mikaela Shiffrin talks about her journey back from serious injury

USA TODAY Sports’ Nancy Armor spoke to Mikaela Shiffrin about her long recovery from injury and how she’s preparing for the upcoming Winter Olympics.

take sports seriously

It’s too simplistic to race for an Olympic gold medal, or silver or bronze medal, or to limit your body of work to one race or one event.

“In some ways, an Olympic medal is literally an Olympic medal,” Shiffrin said. “You want it to be a symbol that represents everything. It definitely represents hard work. It’s a symbol of years of dedication and sacrifice and all of that.”

“But at the end of the day, people talk about other records and globes that I have, but it’s about a lifetime of dedication and hard work and passion and just being relentless that created the ability for me as a human being to accomplish these things,” she said. “And when it comes to (Olympic) medals, it’s all about ‘Olympic gold medalist.’ Just an Olympic gold medalist.

“The funny thing is, it’s hard to attach meaning, really healthy meaning, to Olympic medals.”

But she is determined to take on the challenge. But it’s not because she feels she has something to prove or that she feels she owes some anonymous keyboard warriors something. The most important people in her life – her fiancé, Norwegian skier Alexander Aamodt Kilde. her mother. her brother and sister-in-law. Her good friends are there for the following reasons: who She is not about what she does or how many medals she wins.

Something golfer Scottie Scheffler said last summer also resonated with her.

Scheffler was the best golfer of his generation, winning four majors and becoming an Olympic champion before his 30th birthday. But at the 2024 British Open, he said he realized how fleeting the satisfaction of victory can be. Even very large ones.

“It’s a really great moment. And then you’re like, ‘Okay, what are we going to have for dinner?’ Life goes on,” Scheffler said.

That’s the attitude Shiffrin wants to convey in Milano-Cortina, a place she loves and knows well. No matter what happens, for better or worse, life goes on. Like after Sochi, after Pyeongchang, and after Beijing. So Shiffrin might as well enjoy her fourth Olympics, especially after missing the majority of the past two seasons with injuries.

She’s gained confidence through her hard work and the way she’s skied this season – looking effortlessly dominant in recent races – rather than focusing on everything she can’t control.

“You do what you’re supposed to do every day and trust it completely. You make the decision to commit,” Shiffrin’s head coach Karin Harjo said. “It sounds easy, but it’s actually very difficult to do, especially when you’re carrying the weight and pressure of the world. But she’s getting better at it.”

Hear and see us Olympic Podcast Milan Magic Get your podcasts from anywhere. Apple | Spotify | YouTube

Mikaela Shiffrin wants a podcast after the Olympics

USA TODAY’s Nancy Armor talks about gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin’s future in podcasting and the deep conversations she hopes to have with athletes.

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Shiffrin has won all but one slalom race on the World Cup circuit so far this season. What didn’t she win? She took second place. Despite still having two races remaining after the Olympics, her victory on January 25 gives her her ninth season title and a new record for a single-sport event.

She is leading the race for her sixth overall title. She has won 108 World Cups and finished on the podium 166 times, both impressive numbers.

And after struggling in giant slalom after sustaining a puncture wound to her oblique muscle and PTSD in a November 2024 accident, she reached the podium for the first time in two years in the event, finishing third in her final GS race before the Games.

Shiffrin will compete in the giant slalom, slalom and team combined races at Milan-Cortina.

“Those moments where you win or win or win a medal, that’s just a small part of your life. Even if you spend all your time doing that, the rest of your time is a big part of your life,” Shiffrin said. “It’s worth putting your energy into.”

That doesn’t mean she doesn’t try to be the fastest down the mountain. Or she’s not going to spend all of her energy and effort making each turn as perfect as possible and bringing what she did in training to the race.

That way, Shiffrin can be satisfied with her Olympic performance, medal or no medal.

“I’m just going to enjoy this and I’m going to do the best I can,” she said. “I’m going to train hard and focus on the skills I’ve built over time. And I’m going to stay true to myself and stay focused and give it all to the mountain.”

The company, founded in 2015 by namesake makeup artist Pat McGrath, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on January 22, according to court documents reviewed by USA TODAY. In its filing in the Southern District of Florida, the company listed more than $50 million in debt.

USA TODAY has reached out to McGrath’s attorney for comment.

However, the cosmetics company’s application does not yet mean the death of traditional brands. In a Jan. 25 court filing, McGrath’s lawyers said the founders wanted to “continue business operations as usual in order to preserve property values, preserve jobs, and facilitate an orderly restructuring.” In an emergency application, the company asked for approval to make a $1 million loan to its debtors to keep the business afloat and pay its employees.

The bankruptcy filing comes on the heels of news that the company plans to auction off its brand assets. That auction has now been postponed indefinitely, WWD reports. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is primarily considered an emergency shutdown of a business, allowing it to reorganize with the help of its debtors. The debtor and business then work together to come up with a plan to repay creditors over time.

According to the National Weather Service, tens of millions of Americans were on alert for bitter cold as a blast of arctic air kept temperatures below freezing. AccuWeather forecasters warned that the arctic air above the region is expected to remain bitterly cold in areas already covered in snow and ice, creating life-threatening conditions.

The National Weather Prediction Center noted that the cold air is expected to continue in the eastern United States into early February.

“New York City has recorded the longest period of subfreezing temperatures on record, with the potential for widespread impacts to transportation, energy use, and business operations,” AccuWeather said in its advisory.

The White House announced earlier this month that Vice President J.D. Vance will lead the U.S. delegation to the opening ceremony in Milan on February 6. Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said on Saturday that he had not received confirmation that ICE officers would be sent, but “we don’t know what the problem will be,” news agency ANSA reported.

However, Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said in a radio interview that he opposes the presence of ICE in the city.

“This is a paramilitary group that kills people, a paramilitary group that invades people’s homes and signs permits. There is no doubt that they are not welcome in Milan,” Sala told RTL radio 102, according to the Associated Press.

Imagine hearing that heavily armed masked agents are going door to door in your neighborhood, violently arresting people from your gardener to your grandparents. No questions or warrants presented. what would you do? Especially when we know that having more community members as observers reduces the likelihood that masked agents will commit violence.

That’s what my friend Brandon and I were doing on January 11th. I heard reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were pepper spraying a guard’s car that was blocked from my house, so I went to warn others. I am a US citizen and have lived in Minneapolis for over 14 years. This is a place where treating others the way you want to be treated is more than just words.

As we drove to the scene, Brandon and I saw several ICE agents returning to two unmarked vehicles. They turned onto a side street and we followed for about 40 seconds, blowing our whistles and honking our horns. The purpose was to let the neighbors know that ICE had arrived.

But did you know that there is also a Doomsday Plane or the so-called Doomsday Fish?

Here’s what you need to know about the signs of impending doom, including details about the Doomsday Clock.

Oarfish are a sign of natural disasters

A rare deep-sea oarfish swims to bathers in the shallows.

Beachgoers in Mexico were surprised to see a rare oarfish in the shallows. In Japanese folklore, the sighting of an oarfish is a symbol of impending doom.

Sightings of oarfish do indeed serve as a symbol of “imminent doom,” but the catastrophe foreshadowed by the presence of oarfish in shallow waters is an earthquake, not so much the “last days.” But it’s still terrifying.

Multiple sightings have been made along the Southern California coastline, Mexico and Taiwan, bringing the total to about five since 2023.

Read the room.

Trump’s thugs are shooting at American citizens and using 5-year-olds in blue rabbit hats as fodder for overreaching immigration raids. Many people in the country are furious and looking for someone, anyone, to get angry and say this is not okay. Now is not the time to be seen as indulging President Trump’s latest grand vision, even if it claims to be celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary.^th birthday.

The Athletic reported last week that the commissioners of the four major men’s sports are expected to visit the White House, possibly as soon as Tuesday, to hear Trump’s thoughts on incorporating the leagues into the National 250 plan. As anyone who has paid any attention to this administration knows, this meeting will be surreal television as President Trump touts his accomplishments, vents his grievances, and expects the commissioners to flatter him.

Wedding, 44, pleaded not guilty on Monday, January 26, in federal court in Santa Ana, California, to charges that he was a key figure in a cocaine smuggling scheme in multiple drug-related murders, Reuters reported.

“He went from being an Olympic snowboarder to being the biggest drug trafficker of our time,” FBI Director Kash Patel said at a recent press conference.

Wedding is accused of “running and participating in a cross-border drug trafficking operation that transported hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and Southern California to Canada and other parts of the United States, and whose leaders orchestrated multiple murders in furtherance of these drug crimes,” according to the indictment.