Rivals, teammates and those close to ski racer Mikaela Shiffrin quantify her career in a word or two

Over her storied career, Mikaela Shiffrin has overcome obstacles and injuries, dealt with doubts and demons, including a case of post-crash PTSD, and landed in a good place as she heads into the Milan Cortina Winter Games.

It's not easy to sum up in a few words. But those close to the all-time winningest Alpine ski racer were asked by The Associated Press to explain what makes Shiffrin, well, Shiffrin in a simple word. Or two.

The first come from Shiffrin herself, and they reflect her sense of humor in keeping the memories of the 2022 Beijing Games, where she went 0 for 6 in her pursuit of medals, at bay.

“I’m not going to lie — the Olympics have been wonderful to me," the two-time Olympic gold medalist cracked, “and they’ve been like a mosquito as well.”

“If you were to read a book on how you should ski, she executes it near flawlessly,” two-time Olympic gold medalist Ted Ligety said. “Mikaela executes on all the most technical basis — like a textbook."

For example: She's a rhythmic racer, almost hearing the melodic beat of a song as she weaves through the gates along a slalom course. That almost effortless form helped the 30-year-old American lock up the slalom title on Jan. 25, becoming the first skier in the six-decade history of the World Cup with nine season globes in one discipline.

“Success takes persistence,” said Karin Harjo, who's Shiffrin's head coach. “It is the willingness to keep going even when you don’t feel like it, when you want to bail on the one thing you are supposed to do, when you think you have it all figured out, when you win it all, or when it feels like the whole world is crashing down around you."

For example: Shiffrin suffered a severe puncture wound in November 2024 when she fell in a giant slalom race in Vermont. Whatever pierced her — there are several theories — just missed her abdominal wall and colon. It caused psychological turmoil, too — PTSD in the giant slalom, which she's working through to return to the top of her game in the discipline.

“The reason I say that word is that I just truly think Mikaela is the kindest person and I think it’s the one word that describes her best,” her mom, Eileen, said.

For example: She's always signing autographs. She frequently gives those prize-winning flowers and trophies to servicemen, sponsors, coaches, and even front-desk workers at hotels.

“She’s an incredible leader but she’s never afraid to jump in the bilge and get water out of the hull,” teammate Breezy Johnson said. “And she is the best of us but she’s also one of us."

For example: The first time at a World Cup venue can be daunting for a new teammate. So Shiffrin will watch video with the newcomers — with anyone, really — so they know the race course from her perspective.

“Whatever she does ... she does it in (the) highest possible level and still aims for more,” said Janne Haarala, who's another coach on Team Shiffrin.

For example: That includes away from skiing, too. She started a podcast called, “ What’s the Point with Mikaela Shiffrin." She also sings as well as plays the guitar and piano. Music was always a passion she shared with her late father, Jeff, who died on Feb. 2, 2020, after an accident at his home in Colorado.

“Mikaela is driven, creative, thoughtful and precise,” said her longtime physical therapist, Regan Dewhirst. “She values excellence and efficiency, and she always approaches challenges with curiosity and intention."

For example: Through therapy, Shiffrin's gaining more and more confidence in the GS, an event she won at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. Shiffrin recently placed third in a GS race in Czech Republic for her first World Cup GS podium in two years.

“She can make the shortest turn around the gate and has the physical strength to keep the perfect position in nearly every situation,” explained retired racer Marlies Raich (Schild), a four-time Olympic medalist. “She's always pushing to the finish line.”

For example: Shiffrin grew up idolizing Raich, along with American great Bode Miller. It's a technique honed with the help of Shiffrin's parents, too. Her dad was there for her two Olympic gold medals, with his familiar bushy mustache, proud smile and ever-present camera strap slung around his neck.

“She is superlative. Anybody who tries to make an argument that she’s not the best there’s ever been has some uphill sledding to do," Miller said. "Everyone says that records are rented, not owned, but she may own that thing. She's impressive."

For example: Shiffrin has a record 108 World Cup wins across all disciplines. That's 24 more than 41-year-old teammate Lindsey Vonn and 22 more than Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark.

“She’s always focused and always motivated and always in training,” her fiancé and Norwegian racer Aleksander Aamodt Kilde said. “She’s very, very committed and she keeps doing it with consistency. That’s why she keeps winning.”

For example: A couple for more than four years, they lean on each other, especially last season when each went through a difficult injury. Kilde underwent surgery for a severe cut and nerve damage in his right calf and two torn ligaments in his shoulder after a crash in Switzerland in January 2024.

“Ultimate role model on and off the snow,” U.S. Ski & Snowboard president and CEO Sophie Goldschmidt said.

For example: To think, Shiffrin has as many reindeer (nine) as Santa Claus. Each year, the winner of the slalom race in Levi, Finland, receives a reindeer. She has a stable-full of them with names such as Rudolph, Sven, Mr. Gru, Ingemar (after Stenmark), Sunny, Lorax (a tribute to her father), Grogu, Rori, and Winkie (a nod to mom's childhood nickname).

AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin celebrates winning an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom, in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin speeds down the course to win an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom, in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin celebrates on podium after finishing third in a women's alpine ski, World Cup giant slalom, in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin speeds down the course to win an alpine ski, women's World Cup slalom, in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin at finish line during a women's alpine ski, World Cup giant slalom, in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)

MILAN (AP) — The troubled Caribbean country, Haiti, has fielded two athletes for the Milan Cortina Winter Games, and they will proudly wear Haitian symbols — although one less than intended after intervention by the International Olympic Committee.

The skiers will compete in uniforms designed by Italian-Haitian designer Stella Jean that originally featured an image of Toussaint Louverture, the former slave who led a revolution that created the world’s first Black republic in 1804. The IOC ruled that the image violated Olympic rules barring political symbolism, requiring Jean to come up with a creative solution: painting over the nation's founding father.

Even so, competing on the elite global stage for winter sport is a powerful message of resilience from a tropical nation that has weathered so much tragedy. Since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, gangs have grown in power. They now control 90% of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and there has been a surge in rapes, killings and the recruitment of children by armed gangs.

Jean gave The Associated Press an exclusive sneak peek of the uniforms at the Haitian Embassy in Rome.

“Haiti’s presence at Winter Olympics is a symbol, is a statement, not a coincidence,'' Haiti’s ambassador to Italy, Gandy Thomas, told the AP. “We may not be a winter country, but we are a nation that refuses to be confined by expectation. … Absence is the most dangerous form of erasing.''

Jean, who designed Haiti’s uniforms for the 2024 Paris Games, this time took inspiration from a painting of Louverture astride a red horse by Haitian artist Edouard Duval-Carrié.

The IOC didn’t respond to the AP’s request for comment on Monday regarding why this image of the patriot was deemed a violation. But the Olympic Charter — the book of rules and protocol for the Games and Olympic sports bodies — binds the national Olympic committees to staying neutral in political matters. No demonstration of political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic site or venue.

To resolve the issue, Jean engaged Italian artisans to paint out the imposing figure, leaving a nonetheless dramatic image of a charging red horse against a lush tropical background. On its back, “Haiti” is written against an azure sky.

“Rules are rules and must be respected, and that is what we have done,’’ Jean told the AP at the embassy. "But for us, it is important that this horse, his horse, the general’s horse, remains. For us, it remains the symbol of Haiti’s presence at the Olympics.’’

Jean also created a look for women in the delegation. It features golden hoop earrings and a Haitian tignon, or turban, which women were once forced to wear by colonial masters to cover their hair so it wouldn’t upstage that of the colonizers.

“We know that in these few meters of cloth, in this uniform, we must concentrate all of history and a message," Jean said.

Haiti’s path to the Winter Games traces its roots to the creation of its ski federation, on a wave of empathy after its devastating 2010 earthquake. The federation now counts seven athletes, two of whom who will compete in Jean's kit at the Olympics. Both receive financial support through the IOC’s Olympic Solidarity program to help with costs for training, equipment and travel to qualification events.

Richardson Viano, 23, became Haiti’s first Winter Olympian at the 2022 Beijing Games, finishing 34th in the men’s slalom.

Adopted by an Italian family in France at age 3, he initially skied for France before being approached by the Haitian Ski Federation — an organization he didn’t even know existed — and obtaining a Haitian passport. He said competing on the slopes offers a rare chance to challenge Haiti's downtrodden reputation.

“When you talk about Haiti it is in catastrophic terms. … This is a way to find something nice,'' he said by phone from Bosnia, where he was competing in pre-Games races.

The Haitian team also includes 25-year-old Stevenson Savart, the country’s first Olympic Nordic skier.

Adopted by a French family at age 3, Savart turned to Haiti after failing to qualify for France, and is fulfilling a lifelong dream.

“I am very proud that I can do that for Haiti,” Savart said by phone from his training base in France, acknowledging he expects to finish well behind the leaders in the men’s 20-kilometer skiathlon. But wearing Haiti's uniform when he competes in Predazzo will be a powerful motivator.

“Having Haiti visible will give me even more energy,” he said.

Ambassador Thomas said he expects the story of Viano and Savart to resonate both at home and among the Haitian diaspora, despite ongoing hardship and political uncertainty back home — or perhaps because of it.

Cathleen Jeanty, a Haitian-American from New Jersey, said that she knows very little about winter sports, but will be tuning in to watch Haiti's two athletes compete. Just like her, they grew up outside the country, but still feel connected.

“People who maybe don’t come from underrepresented communities, they don’t realize how important the cultural capital is to be able to stand elbow to elbow with your peers," said Jeanty, 32.

Francesco Sportelli in Rome, and Graham Dunbar in Milan, contributed to this report.

Italian-Haitian designer Stella Jean, right, helps Livia Audain at the Haitian Embassy in Rome, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, wear the official uniform of the Haitian national team participating in the 2026 Winter Olympics. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Italian-Haitian designer Stella Jean, center, helps Megan Thomas, left, and Livia Audain at the Haitian Embassy in Rome, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, wear the official uniform of the Haitian national team participating in the 2026 Winter Olympics. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Haiti's Ambassador to Italy, Gandy Thomas, poses at the Haitian Embassy in Rome, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, with the official uniform for the Haitian national team participating in the 2026 Winter Olympics. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

From left, Livia Audain, Haiti's Ambassador to Italy Gandy Thomas, and Megan Thomas pose at the Haitian Embassy in Rome, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, with the official uniform for the Haitian national team participating in the 2026 Winter Olympics. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Italian-Haitian designer Stella Jean, center, helps Megan Thomas, right, and Livia Audain at the Haitian Embassy in Rome, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, wear the official uniform of the Haitian national team participating in the 2026 Winter Olympics. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)