“My body’s screaming at me, it’s like a fight or flight: ‘No, don’t do it, it’s risky, it’s dangerous.’ … This whole journey has felt a little bit like whiplash, I think, for me and for the whole team.” Mikaela Shiffrin said these in her interaction with CNN on February 25 this year. On February 23, she attained a century of victories in the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup. The first time in the history of ski racing! But the journey has been a whirlwind for her. As she mentioned, it has been a whiplash. However, the journey has also been bittersweet for her. Why so? On attaining the milestone throughout these years, she had to lose someone who used to be her biggest cheerleader.
She lost that cheerleader, her father Jeff, five years ago in an accident in their home in Colorado. Jeff was 65 by then. And look at the coincidence: Jeff passed away on February 2, 2020, and five years later, in the same month, Mikaela claimed the top seat in the record book. In such a condition, things were bound to be emotional. And those turned out to be the same only.
Mikaela Shiffrin displays her actual emotion on losing her father
On February 27, Access Hollywood’s Instagram handle shared a detailed interaction between Mikaela Shiffrin and host Emily Orozco. In the conversation, the questions turned to a soft point, asking the ski racer about missing her father in key moments. The question made Shiffrin emotional but she managed the situation well. While responding to the question, she said, “Oh, it’s a little; we could get deep here. I have struggled with, feel like a lot of people talk about, um, grief and, you know, the passing of a loved one and how they do feel their presence. And I have struggled with the, this is frustration that I don’t always feel his presence when I want to.” Those words remained shocking, though. However, she had a few more things to add to that. And believe us, those remained no less shocking.
In the conversation, the 29-year-old remained brutal while revealing her emotions. She doesn’t always consider that her father’s soul always feels proud of her. “That was in the beginning as well. And this kind of idea of like, what would he say if he was here? And that sometimes it makes me want to scream because all people mean is just to say like, he would be proud of you, but I’m like, well, we don’t know that because he’s not here,” she said. However, she feels connected to her father somehow. But how? In the interaction, she unveiled the truth.
“I’ve kind of learned to realize that I’m connected with him when I think about him and I think about him a lot. And it doesn’t mean that I feel him in his presence right next to me,” Mikaela said. Something out of the most traditional ways to remember our close ones! Shiffrin agreed to that. And she tried to normalize the entire process by claiming, “We feel it in different ways and, however, you feel it is really okay.” The two-time Olympic champion concluded the chapter with a note of wisdom. But the question is how special was the bonding between Mikaela and Jeff Shiffrin when the latter was alive? And it isn’t about being only the cheerleader.
The tale of bonding written between father and daughter
On February 2, 2023, three years after Jeff’s demise, Mikaela Shiffrin shared an emotional post on Instagram, one that had no caption. All it framed was Shiffrin hugging her father tightly on the bed. Her head lay on Jeff’s chest. Was it a scene from the deathbed? It could have been. But did it make any change to the scene? No. Five years ago, Mikaela did have the opportunity to see her father in the last moments. The news sent to her made her promptly rush to the scene from the other side of the world, leaving her competition. She still feels herself fortunate to attend Jeff’s last moments alongside him. After all, that’s how they were bonded with each other.
SOLDEU, ANDORRA – MARCH 19: Mikaela Shiffrin of Team United States takes 1st place during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Finals Women’s Giant Slalom on March 19, 2023 in Soldeu, Andorra. (Photo by Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom/Getty Images)
Before 2020, the Shiffrins were the most common scene in the races. On the sidelines, Mikaela used to be found with her mother, Eileen while in the finish area, Jeff used to accompany the daughter proudly. Not only that, Mikaela bought the home in Colorado because of her father. During her interaction with CNN in 2020, she admitted this truth. “My dad spent a lot of time at this house and [was] part of the reason that I actually ended up buying this house,” she said. According to her, Jeff pre-selected a house and recommended it to Mikaela. She followed instructions, and the house has remained her home ever since. For her, the house has become a way to recall the memories of her father. The processes may differ, as she noted, but the result—a feeling of connection—remains consistent.
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