Here's the thing. You can't get ten thousand hours of skiing. You spend so much time on the chairlift. My coach did a calculation of how many hours I've been on snow. We'd been overestimating. I think we came up with something like eleven total hours of skiing on snow a year. It's, like, seven minutes a day.

Mikaela Shiffrin

When I'm in the starting gate, it's just me and the hill.

Things you don't expect come up, and you have to adapt. You can't let it throw you off. You have to cope. Those are all really valuable skills, in life and racing.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Life You Valuable

A perfect day for me would just be a day that goes the way I plan.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Would Way Us

If you strive toward the perfect run, accepting that you will always come up short of that is very intriguing. It makes me think about how in life in general, we always want to strive toward perfection, but sometimes perfection would be the worst thing.

Mikaela Shiffrin

War Time Life

Pasta is my superfood! Balance and moderation are the basis for my diet, though, so I also make sure to incorporate plenty of protein, fruits, and veggies throughout the day.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Food Diet Up

I think it's good to stimulate your mind.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Good Your You

Dream big, but don't be upset if it doesn't happen.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Upset Ups Up

I have never limited myself by focusing much on being a 'normal' teenager.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Teen Age Using

I just have tried to adapt to the constant changes that happen all the time in my schedule and try and find any sort of mini-predictability and balance within my very unpredictable life.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Time Life Change

I've had a lot of people tell me, 'Yeah, sure, you're good at slalom, but wait till you get to the real events like downhill or super-G.' I don't like hearing that.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Good You Yeah

You have to have the brain to conceptualize technique and apply it to your body.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Your Body Your You

Whether it's learning to hit a backhand in tennis, learning high school chemistry, or getting better at ski racing, I really believe with hard work and analytic preparation, you can skip a few steps and find the faster way.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Work Learning You

If I leave any legacy behind, it's just the idea, just the theory that you admit to your ambitions, and you don't let people tell you you're wrong to have those ambitions.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Your You Wrong

You can't ever make the perfect run, but you can make the best run, and then you clock the fastest time, and that's a win.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Time You Win

I've always said my expectations are higher than what anyone else could put on me.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Ways Way Than

My whole thing is simple, well-balanced meals. I have to say, though, that I really like dessert. I try not to eat dessert every day, but I'll have dessert every now and then.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Whole Who Well

Sometimes I feel surrounded by this dark cloud, and it feels like I can't breathe. It's nervousness and I don't know what else.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Time Us UN

Drama holds you back.

Mikaela Shiffrin

You Ram Old

I remember skiing being a family recreational thing.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Family Thing Thin

When I was 3 years old, I thought I was very good at skiing.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Good Years Year

I just - I fell in love with the sport when I started to ski gates. Once I was allowed to start training gates around 6 years old, then I really fell in love with it.

Mikaela Shiffrin

I love traveling and seeing new things, learning the histories of different cultures. But I've always wanted to go to the Galapagos to see the giant turtles.

Mikaela Shiffrin

My dream job has always been to be a ski racer.

Mikaela Shiffrin

My parents strapped a pair of plastic skis on my boots when I was two years old and sent me down our driveway in Vail. Of course, they were holding on to me the whole time, but that was my first experience 'skiing.'

Mikaela Shiffrin

I'm not really seeing pressure as a negative.

Mikaela Shiffrin

It rained a lot in New Hampshire, and when I skied, the snow was icy and hard, and the mountains were small.

Mikaela Shiffrin

If I hadn't come East as a kid, I might still be a World Cup racer today, but I wouldn't be the same World Cup racer.

Mikaela Shiffrin

I don't really have time or interest in doing a lot of the crazy things that some of my teenage peers do, mostly because I have such a hectic life that I don't need to add to that chaos by creating my own teenage drama like a lot of teenagers do.

Mikaela Shiffrin

I like it when hard work pays off.

Mikaela Shiffrin

I do doubles on Monday and Thursday, take Wednesday off or do easy cardio, do doubles on Thursday and Friday, and the weekend I just get outside and get active - jog or bike ride, or play tennis with my mom.

Mikaela Shiffrin

One of the biggest misconceptions is that carbs are bad. It's a fad right now. Full disclosure: I'm sponsored by Barilla. But I've always been free about saying I love carbs, including pasta, in moderation.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Out on the hill under the helmet, nobody sees your face or hair, but then you take it off, and they do - that's the part I'm nervous about.

Mikaela Shiffrin

The harsh cold and windburn from hours of skiing does a lot of damage to my skin, so I try to keep my skin as moisturized as possible.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Most people just see ski racing during the Olympics.

Mikaela Shiffrin

I have some really lofty goals that don't even scratch upon the Olympics.

Mikaela Shiffrin

I was lucky enough that my parents knew about World Cup skiing, so since I was really little, we were watching World Cup winning runs.

Mikaela Shiffrin

I've always wanted to do things as fast as possible.

Mikaela Shiffrin

I get this adrenaline rush from just going down the course and feeling like I made a really great turn and I'm going to do it again and again and again. That feeling can't be replaced, and that's the feeling I'm striving to get every time I go out there.

Mikaela Shiffrin

I haven't had to make a decision between 'my brand' and money. Everybody seems to get what I'm going for: the healthy lifestyle, staying active, being young and youthful.

Mikaela Shiffrin

During the season, one of the most important things to eat is the carbs. Protein's really important, too, but it's the carbs that are important because I have to consistently refuel for the next day.

Mikaela Shiffrin

In the end, I want to be an inspiration to somebody.

Mikaela Shiffrin

I've learned some quick tricks about how to fix my hair so I can dash somewhere unexpected and still be O.K. when someone stops me to take a picture.

Mikaela Shiffrin

People tell me an Olympic medal is a life-changing event. Except I don't even think about the medal unless someone asks about it.

Mikaela Shiffrin

People watch the Olympics because they want to believe in heroes; I know I did.

Mikaela Shiffrin

I have all these things I want to do, but I don't have to do them right away. Because it's not just about winning, it's about succeeding, which to me are two different things.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Some sports, you see some athletes just walking around the gym not really doing anything, eating food. They're first to the lunchroom, never lifting weights.

Mikaela Shiffrin

It's hard to find someone who is really genuinely happy for you if you are having success and they're not.

Mikaela Shiffrin

I just try to be as nice as possible and make fun of myself and laugh at the jokes.

Mikaela Shiffrin

'Don't worry about it, and you'll be great,' said nobody, ever.

Mikaela Shiffrin

Here's the thing. You can't get ten thousand hours of skiing. You spend so much time on the chairlift. My coach did a calculation of how many hours I've been on snow. We'd been overestimating. I think we came up with something like eleven total hours of skiing on snow a year. It's, like, seven minutes a day.

Mikaela Shiffrin