Mikaela Shiffrin Reflects on Support from Fans After 2022 Olympic Performance

The Olympics are about the world's best athletes dazzling spectators and competing at the highest level on the biggest stage in sports.

But sometimes they are about so much more.

American skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin has been under the spotlight during the 2022 Games not because she has won medals but because she has come up short in that pursuit. Yet out of those failures to reach the podium has come plenty of support from fans and fellow athletes across the world.

She took a significant step forward by finishing Thursday's super-G competition and then spoke about her Olympics experience and all the support she has received during an emotional post-race interview with NBC Sports.

Most notably, she said "it's ok to say that" she failed and was incredibly thankful for "the kindest words I can ever imagine" that she has received from so many supporters:

"I don't feel like I deserve it. It's been insane how many people have reached out and tried to cheer me up. And every time someone sends a message, you don't have to waste your time on me. I'm going to be fine. I have Olympic medals and I've had great success and a lot of triumphant moments and plenty to be happy about over the last years. This really stings and I feel disappointed from the GS and the slalom race. That disappointment is huge and I know a lot of people feel it. And I feel bad for letting myself down or letting down the world. Mostly I feel bad because I wanted to ski the full track and I wanted to ski well. That was my biggest goal and I didn't really get to do that. We get another chance at the track in the alpine combined and slalom and a good week of nice skiing coming up now. I think today I proved to myself that I can still trust my instincts a bit and that's really really huge. And for all the people who have been sending my support I can only say thank you. There's not enough time to answer everything and it's certainly not possible to answer emphatically enough for just the kindest words I can ever imagine. I don't feel that I deserve it. I would never have expected to feel in this moment after severely underperforming at the Olympics that I would have felt that humans can be so kind. I never would have expected that. It's the most surprising thing of my Olympic experience is how kind people have been in the face of my failure. I mean it is failure, it's ok to say that. I'm ok with that. And I'm sorry for that, but I also was trying and I'm proud of that."

It was rather shocking when Shiffrin skied out of the opening seconds of Sunday's giant slalom and Tuesday's slalom competition, especially since they are two of her strongest disciplines and figured to be gold medal opportunities.

Her raw emotion was on full display after Tuesday's race when she sat slumped over on the snow on the side of the course for an extended period of time in pure disbelief even as her fellow competitors went down the track.

However, that is also when the support started rolling in, including from her boyfriend and fellow skier Aleksander Aamodt Kilde of Norway:

Simone Biles, Lindsey Vonn and Carli Lloyd were also among those who have supported her:

That Biles reached out is particularly notable since a major storyline at the Tokyo Olympics was the all-time great gymnast's decision to withdraw from the team final, the all-around final and some of the individual events for mental health reasons.

With so much love and support behind her, Shiffrin still has the chance to ski for gold at the downhill and combined events.

If she wins, she will add to an already incredible resume that includes three Olympic medals, 11 world championship medals, three World Cup titles and 73 race victories. 

If she doesn't, that's ok too.