Eyeing a six-event Olympics in Beijing this February, alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin has already kicked off what will likely be her most important season in recent years with a Slalom victory on January 12 that rounded her World Cup wins in a single discipline to 47.
This will be Shiffrin's third Olympics, with the 26-year-old winning gold at both her previous Games — the Slalom in Sochi, Russia (making history at 18) and the Giant Slalom in Pyeongchang, South Korea in 2018.
As the Washington Post points out, one medal in China next month will tie Shiffrin with Julia Mancuso as the most decorated American female ski racer. Three medals, which the outlet notes is "a distinct possibility, if not an expectation," will have her match Croatia's Janica Kostelic and Sweden's Anja Parson as the most Olympic medals of any women on the slopes.
But Shiffrin's road to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing has not been an easy one, with the six-time World Champ opening up about Olympic pressure and how the loss of her father has affected her performance on the slopes.
Read all about it below.