Not all that long ago in Mikaela Shiffrin’s trophy-studded, storied ski career, there was a moment when it seemed like it all might be going—forgive me—downhill.

It was February of last year in Beijing. Coming into the Olympics, Shiffrin had been built up as one of the U.S.’s best athletes, and with reason. She had 73 World Cup victories to her name, more than any skier in history aside from Lindsey Vonn (82) and Ingemar Stenmark (86). She was a contender for all five disciplines in alpine ski racing at those Games. She’d been an overall World Cup champion, which takes into account wins across all disciplines over a whole season, three times. She had three Olympic medals to her name.  Read More