Mikaela Shiffrin Reveals Fans' DM Saying She Wasn't Welcomed Back in USA to Kylie Kelce

American skier Mikaela Shiffrin recounted the "darker side" of the Olympics experience she first encountered during the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Shiffrin won a gold medal in the giant slalom in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and followed with a fourth-place finish in the slalom.

In the newest episode of Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce, the 30-year-old said the online harassment was almost immediate.

"Even though I won a gold in giant slalom, I didn't win a medal in the slalom," she said, starting at the 22:07 mark. "It became this really bittersweet thing. And because the slalom was event I was 'supposed' to win — it came after the GS — people just sort of like brushed the GS under the rug a little bit, which was really intriguing for me.

"I was like, you guys know I just won a medal, but I was seeing all these comments like, 'Don't come home. You're not welcome in the U.S. anymore.' This was the first time I saw the dark side of it. There's a reaction no matter what you do."

Shiffrin said that partially influenced her mindset in the 2022 Winter Olympics, which had the added challenges of coming amid the COVID-19 pandemic. She didn't medal in those Winter Games and failed to even finish in the slalom, giant slalom and individual combined events.

It looked like history might repeat itself when Shiffrin had disappointing showings in the giant slalom and team combined competitions. She ended her time in Milano Cortina on a high, blowing away the competition in the slaolm.

The four-time medalist has been forthcoming about her mental health and the difficulty of overcoming past Olympic disappointment and her brutal crash in a 2024 World Cup race.

"The reality of our sport is you lose a lot more than you win," she said after her slalom victory. "The one thing that's certain is you're not going to win everything. The thing that's uncertain is whether you can win again. Every single time I cross the finish line with great skiing and a victory, it's not with confidence. I'm wondering if I can do it again."

Shiffrin told Kelce her previous three trips to the Olympics helped to shift her perspective for 2026. Rather than focusing solely on the results, she valued knowing all of the work she put in to qualify for Team USA.