• Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin is a favorite to earn more glory at this year's Pyeongchang Games.
• Shiffrin won gold in Sochi in 2014, at the age of 18.
• The competitor was the youngest person to win an Olympic gold medal in the slalom.
• She could become the first American woman to win three skiing medals at one Olympics, The Denver Post reported.
Mikaela Shiffrin wants you to know that she's not a superhero.
The 22-year-old alpine skier became the youngest person to win an Olympic gold medal in the slalom at the Sochi Games. She's long been labeled as the next Lindsey Vonn, as The New York Times reported back in 2014. She routinely puts herself through grueling workouts that leave her feeling like she might pass out, according to The New Yorker. She's currently the reigning overall World Cup Champion, which she snagged at St. Moritz in 2017.
And now, she's on the verge of potentially making history at the Pyeongchang Games. She could become the first American woman to win three skiing medals at one Olympics, The Denver Post reported.
"How I got here is a crazy path that probably could not be replicated," she told The New York Times. "But it doesn't have to be replicated. I may have become a world champion quicker than most, but people should look at me and realize there are all kinds of ways to get where you want to go."
Shiffrin may not be a superhero, but she's already accomplished some out-of-this-world athletic feats over the course of her life.
Here's a look back at her career:
Shiffrin's parents — anesthesiologist Jeff and former nurse Eileen — are both avid skiers, too. They introduced Shiffrin and her brother Taylor to the sport at the early age. "They had us walking around the living room in these tiny, little, plastic Mickey Mouse skis that you just latched onto snow boots," Taylor told the New York Post.
Source: The New York Post, The New Yorker
All that early exposure paid off. When the Vail, Colorado native was five, she wowed skiing instructors with her technique. They ended up declaring they didn't know which training group to put her in, Sports Illustrated reported. So Shiffrin continued to train with her parents.
Source: Sports Illustrated, The New Yorker
She ultimately attended Burke Mountain Academy, a Vermont prep school for young ski racers. By 2012, she had made the US ski team.
Source: Sports Illustrated, The New Yorker
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