Mikaela Shiffrin to race in the women’s downhill

Yanqing - Comments from Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) after the third women's downhill training run at the National Alpine Skiing Centre on Monday.

On confirming that she will race the women's downhill on Tuesday - bar any surprise decisions from her coaches: 
"Yeah. I suppose the coaches could always say, 'Maybe it's not worth it, maybe it's better to have a rest day'.

"But yesterday we had a very unplanned recovery day which means in a block of about 17 days I have a day off. That was not planned, so that is kind of nice.

"It gave me way too much time to think about and overthink this track but I have to be able to visualise it as many times as possible because that is the only practice on my skis I am going to get. Well, virtual practice on my skis.

"It was good to get some rest, some recovery, a little bit of a strength session in and get the muscles priming.

"It will be really nice to race but you don't really come to the Olympics to feel nice. It's going to be intense and a little bit of nerves but in general I think it's going to be really cool to be able to race and one of my biggest goals coming here was to start in every event. At least that dream may still be alive."

On her training run: 
“There are a lot of positives. Probably my biggest worry from this training run was that everybody was going to get faster and I was just going to stay in the same spot.

“I stayed in approximately the same distance (from the quickest skiers), that’s perfect.

“It’s a really nice track to ski and everybody’s feeling a little bit more confident, a little bit more sure of where they are. The women who are doing more speed are able to really let that experience and understanding of how downhill works with the skis and everything, they can let that shine through.

“I’m very optimistic that I’m within a pretty good range and we will look at the video to see where I can improve and especially look at the sections where I could normally excel.

“I just want to rip off turns like it’s slalom but I’m trying to fight that instinct and just let everything go down the hill. It feels really nice."

On her chances of a medal in the downhill: 
“If you ask any athlete who’s had medals or podiums, your mind is never away from that, there’s always some part of you that’s thinking, ‘maybe there’s a chance’.

“I’m not focusing on the medal anymore. It’s just trying to do my best execution every day.

“Your best chance for that performance is to stop thinking about the performance and focus on what you’re doing in that moment. I’m just trying to be present in the moment, especially in downhill, and in the combined it’s another run of downhill. You cannot get ahead of yourself. It’s not conducive to a good performance but even more it’s very, very dangerous.

“You have to be focused on what you’re doing, when you’re doing, and that’s what I’m bringing my mind back to every time.

"The medal in itself, I have had medals, that's OK. I am just out here to fight and give it my best shot and we will see what happens."

On rival Petra Vlhova (SVK) having left Beijing before their anticipated battle in the Alpine combined: 
"There are a few girls who have a really good shot at the combined, putting together a solid downhill run and a solid slalom run and Petra was one of them.

"She and her team, they are smart because the next goal for this season would be the overall (world cup title) and I am still here, still clawing away at my Olympics. She's getting the recovery she needs and getting the training she needs and making a smart decision for the rest of her season, now (that) they did accomplish that goal (Vlhova won the slalom gold, a first for Slovakia in Alpine skiing).

"That was impressive and history made for Slovakia, so there's no reason why she shouldn't just take that, fly home and move on with the rest of the season."

On her limited Valentine's Day plans with boyfriend Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (NOR): 
"He's here. He's waiting for me. We can't do anything. It's Valentine's Day, I have never put a ton of emphasis on it and I don't think he did either. But he's here and maybe we can have dinner with the nice clear dividers (between them)."

Article courtesy of Olympic Information Service