PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — Mikaela Shiffrin has stood in the start gate hundreds, maybe thousands of times, staring down the mountain and knowing it will bend to her will.
That’s not arrogance or wishful thinking. It’s fact. She’s the best slalom skier of her generation, maybe any generation, and might well end her career as the best skier of all time. When she’s skiing well, everyone else is skiing for second and third place and they all know it.
And then there are days when she stands atop the mountain with her stomach churning and her mind jumbled, wondering if it will be enough.