Mikaela Shiffrin

By Walker McKnight

If I could pick one person to interview, dead or alive, I would pick Mikaela Shiffrin. She is the world record holder for most World Cup wins in the history of ski racing, and when she was a kid, she won a race that I participate in today. 

 I would also pick her because she is a good role model. Not only is she incredible at ski racing, she is kind, caring, and honest, three of my core principles. When she gets hurt, she gets right back up. After her big crash in January of 2023, she considered stopping her career. But she looked at how far she had come, with a current 97 World Cup wins, and decided to keep pushing. She never gives up, no matter how hard the challenge. 

The first question I would ask her in my interview is, ‘How do you motivate yourself to keep skiing?’. I would ask her this because, for me it is so hard to keep skiing everyday, though I am only in U12’s. You have to persevere and work hard to do one thing all the time, and stay interested and good at it. She has had so many twists and turns in her career, but she keeps going back out to race. 

My second question I would ask her is ‘What is your best advice for a good skiing career?’ She has had such a great career that I would want to know what her tips are. I would like to know how to have a work life balance, judging from how much they travel, and how to interact with the other athletes, as friends and competitors. She has made it so far, so I bet she has some good advice. 

In conclusion, I would really love to interview Mikaela Shiffrin because she is such an incredible person, ski racer, and athlete. She perseveres when times get tough, as well as being kind! She is the kind of person I aspire to be.