Mikaela Shiffrin completed an extraordinary turnaround by winning the overall World Cup title for the fourth time in her career in Courchevel, France, March 17, 2022. /CFP
"This season has been one of the most confusing seasons I ever did," Mikaela Shiffrin said after winning the overall World Cup title, ski racing's most prestigious prize, in the French Alps on Thursday.
These past few weeks, without a shred of doubt, have been an emotional roller coaster for the American "snow queen."
The 27-year-old winner of more World Cup slalom races than anyone in history went into the 2022 Winter Olympics last month as one of the biggest names expected to shine in Beijing. But to everybody's surprise, she didn't finish three of her five individual races after either falling or skiing out of the course.
Mikaela Shiffrin competes during the women's super-G of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Finals in Courchevel, France, March 17, 2022. /CFP
Shiffrin left China without a single medal around her neck. "I don't know if anybody's failed that hard with so many opportunities, maybe in the history of the Olympics. But I will take it," she said of her disastrous performance in February.
In an extraordinary turnaround, she shrugged off her Olympic disappointment and had a brilliant March. She finished runner-up in a super-G event in Switzerland and then opened the World Cup Finals on Wednesday with a stunning victory in the downhill.
With sky-high confidence, Shiffrin finished second in Thursday's super-G in France, giving her an insurmountable 236-point lead over the defending World Cup champion Slovakia's Petra Vlhova, who only finished 17th. It was Shiffrin's fourth overall World Cup trophy after winning three straight titles from 2017 to 2019.
Mikaela Shiffrin reacts after crossing the finish line in the women's super-G of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Finals in Courchevel, France, March 17, 2022. /CFP
"The whole season has been ups and downs, and the downs have been very, very low for me; some of the toughest moments of my career and of my life," Shiffrin told a press briefing.
"Every time I have a tough moment, it brings back the other tough moments, and I just get so low, and I just want to go home. I felt it five days ago, I felt it at the Olympics.
"So, it's quite special to come here after everything to be able to accomplish and achieve, maybe, the biggest goal I had for myself this season."