Athlete Profile: Mikaela Shiffrin

18 year old "Phenom" (Bode Miller's adjective) Mikaela Shiffrin is Alpine Skiing's brightest young star. Shiffrin won her first Olympic gold in the Women's Slalom for the USA last friday and became the youngest woman ever to win a gold in Alpine skiing.  But Shiffrin's philosophy about success does not hinge around results but rather progress. Shiffrin entered the Olympics knowing she was capable of medaling but simply wanted the chance to improve. The road to gold medal in the women's Slalom would prove to be a tough challenge despite Shiffrin's nearly flawless first run; a close call and an almost  disqualifying wipeout forced Mikaela to finish her second run with nearly 20 perfect turns which she was able to do to earn her gold medal.    

Pennington, Bill. "In Slalom, Mikaela Shiffrin Zips to Bottom and Reaches the Pinnacle."The New York Times. The New York Times, 21 Feb. 2014. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.