YANQING, China — Mikaela Shiffrin shut her eyes, then pushed out of a start gate, and onto an Olympic course her coach had set. It was Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022, the umpteenth day of skiing in a life dedicated to it.
She slalomed through gates, and charged downhill, unhesitating. She accelerated out of turns, and felt “great,” in tune with the slender footgear she’d grown up on. She hit Turn 8, then Turn 9, and she knew, from decades of experience: “That was really good skiing.”
“And any time I've ever been so sure about something like that in my entire career,” she said — “welp, it's gone pretty well.