Mikaela Shiffrin took a salty stance Wednesday to celebrate her women’s slalom victory at the Winter Olympics.
“I fucking won,” she declared in a viral Instagram post.
Shiffrin dominated the slalom field at the Milan Cortina Games (watch her gold-clinching run here), just as she has done on the World Cup circuit. But the Olympics have been another story in recent times.
She lost her mojo in 2022, failing to complete three of her events and missing the podium in all six.
She also didn’t impress in her first two events in Italy.
On Wednesday, however, she was, well, fucking great.
Mikaela Shiffrin wrote that she overcame self-doubt to win her gold medal.
Daniel Kopatsch/VOIGT via Getty Images
Shiffrin, now a three-time gold medalist, reveled in the glow of victory and reflected on the darkness of her slump in a winning Instagram post. She said she “won” several times for good measure.
“I got there, in the face of fear and adrenaline and the potential for criticism and backlash from people who know nothing and don’t even try to understand,” she wrote. “I stood in the start gate, and looked out at the mountain and the course ahead and my heartbeat nearly fell out of my butt. Still, when the countdown started, I pushed. I pushed to chase, I pushed to earn. I pushed to dare and to dream. I pushed to believe.”
“I questioned all that I’ve learned in life, multiple times this week. I questioned what kind of grit I have in my heart and I wondered if I should be doing this at all,” she continued. “I questioned my toughness and tenacity. I questioned it all. And then I left those questions behind, and stepped into the arena anyway.”
Referring to a photo with her gleaming new hardware, she concluded, “I won. I fucking won. This, right here, is the lottery and I won. Oh, and I got a medal too.”
Downhill gold medalist teammate Breezy Johnson joined commenters in applauding Shiffrin.
“So proud of what you have accomplished… oh and winning the medal too,” she wrote.
“I questioned my toughness and tenacity,” Shiffrin wrote in her post after winning gold. “I questioned it all. And then I left those questions behind.”
Daniel Kopatsch/VOIGT via Getty Images