Olympic Mindset
Top athletes from all around the world are competing at the Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy. Many of them spoke with TIME ahead of and during the Games. Here’s a compilation of quotes from those interviews. They offer a glimpse into the mindset of an Olympian.
Pride and Joy
Mikaela Shiffrin, skier: “When any athlete skis their very, very best, you’re 1,000% at peace with your body on the mountain, it’s something that you can’t experience anywhere else, really, in the world.”
Lindsey Vonn, skier: “My goal is not to just be a ski racer. I’m not a robot. I’m not just there to win. I’m there to enjoy the mountain and to be myself. I wouldn’t do it otherwise.”
Eileen Gu, skier: “I’m here because I want to be and I love this sport, and I love progressing, and I love being the best version of myself.”
Collaboration and Teamwork
Kaillie Humphries, bobsledder: “It is really about the journey this Olympics, more than any other Olympics. It really is about the process and the planning of what it took us over these four years to get to this Games . . . It’s the journey of us becoming a family and less about the results.”
Mikaela Shiffrin, skier: “I feel really connected with my coaches, with the staff, with everyone around me, and that’s building in a way that, whatever comes up, we’ll be able to handle it together.”
Hilary Knight, hockey player: “Whatever obstacle was going to present itself, or whatever momentum shift in the game, we were going to find a way to overcome it. It was just such a powerful group to be a part of.”
Confidence and Belief
Lindsey Vonn, skier: “Believing in myself has always been so important. Now it has probably never rang more true.”
Isabeau Levito, figure skater: “I’ve been gaining confidence with my performing ability going into the Olympics. I’m trying to ground myself as much as possible. I want to enjoy every moment.”
Cory Thiesse, curler: “I know how important it was for me to have people to look up to when I was growing up. So I just hope that I can be kind of an inspiration for young girls in curling, or in any sport in the U.S., to just dream big.”
Stress and Pressure
Korey Dropkin, curler: “We try not to get too caught up in the reality of the situation, that this is the Olympics, that there’s so much more pressure on the line.”
Ilia Malinin, figure skater: “I definitely love the pressure. It’s not just the thrill of figure skating, but the competition itself—going out here, preparing yourself so well, and having all that attention, all those eyes on you, that pressure really shows you who you truly are.”
Red Gerard, snowboarder: “I try not to get too serious the night before a contest. It really helps me to sit back and play a card game with my friends. . . . Something to get my head off of what’s going to happen tomorrow.”
Erin Jackson, speed skater: “There’s just a lot more pressure coming in as the reigning champion. But pressure is what I need. It’s what I love. I hope people expect another gold medal from me. I need that pressure to push me higher.”
Learning and Growing
Mikaela Shiffrin, skier: “I didn’t quite find a comfort level that allows me to produce full speed. I’m going to have to learn what to do, what to adjust to in the short time we have before the other tech races. There’s always something to learn.”
Eileen Gu, skier: “That’s what’s so wonderful about being young. You adapt and you learn and you get stronger and better and better and better.”
Chloe Kim, snowboarder: “I thought I had completely maxed out. Turns out I didn’t. There’s so much that I could still achieve and do. Those are some of the reasons why I keep coming back. I keep surprising myself.”
