Early Dominance Creates Performance Anxiety and Fragile Self-Worth

Key Quotes

"I won pretty much every single race, except for one, by over two seconds. That's crazy. The one race I didn't dominate was my comeback race, and I won it by only five tenths of a second. That season, it felt like the worst thing that happened to me because it set everyone's expectations that I was now going to win every race by over two seconds for the rest of my career."

Mikaela Shiffrin explains how an exceptional victory, even by a small margin, created an unsustainable expectation for future performances. Shiffrin highlights that this singular event led to a perception of failure when she did not replicate that extreme dominance, despite still winning.

"That then set me into the next phase of my career, which was a lot of performance anxiety. It all surrounded what the media would say, or what people around me would say. And not just the closest people, but even those closest to me would be like, 'Oh, it'd be so great if you could just stomp on this race, like if you could win it by a second, two seconds, like we want to get back there.'"

Mikaela Shiffrin describes how external pressures, including from the media and her inner circle, fueled her performance anxiety. Shiffrin illustrates that the desire for her to replicate past extreme wins created a significant mental burden.

"There was this phase where I was puking at the start of every race. Almost every race, just because of anxiety, fear. It wasn't more about what the people closest to me were going to say, or what the media were going to say. It was the media, it was fear of losing, more just fear of what disappointment comes when you don't exceed the expectations."

Mikaela Shiffrin details the severe physical manifestation of her performance anxiety, including vomiting before races. Shiffrin clarifies that this anxiety stemmed not only from external commentary but also from the internal fear of not meeting the high expectations she had set.

"Now I realize, because people still do that, they kind of try to get into your mind. They say, they ask a question, but it insinuates that you feel a certain way, instead of just asking how you feel. Sometimes, and there's nothing wrong with it, honestly, it's just like, if you ask the same question over and over and you want to word it a different way. Sometimes a reporter might ask, 'Is it really disappointing that you came in second this race?'"

Mikaela Shiffrin reflects on how media questioning can subtly influence perception and create pressure. Shiffrin points out that reporters sometimes frame questions to insinuate a specific emotional state rather than directly asking about feelings.

"Mentally, emotionally, I was just tired. It was a really, really long stretch of races. I raced seven races in 10 days. And with travel, like literally across Europe. It's just as much emotionally draining as it is physically. Because you have to mentally and emotionally prepare for hours before every race."

Mikaela Shiffrin explains the cumulative toll of a demanding race schedule, emphasizing the significant mental and emotional fatigue. Shiffrin highlights that the preparation required for each race, coupled with extensive travel, contributes to this exhaustion.