YANQING, China — Ever since Mikaela Shiffrin burst onto the international skiing scene a decade ago as a teenage phenom, her extraordinary balance has separated her from nearly all of her competitors.
As she whizzed around gates, winning some races by nearly three seconds and capturing two Olympic gold medals, Shiffrin always appeared perfectly settled on the steep, icy slopes where the best skiers in the world battle both one another and the mountain. She made a reckless and dangerous sport look like ballet. Even when she did not win, it was rarely because she had gotten so out of sorts that she skied off course and failed to cross the finish line.