Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin, 30, says she worked with a psychologist to 'desensitize' herself to the Olympics

Story byAmanda GohMon, February 23, 2026 at 5:12 AM UTC·3 min readMikaela Shiffrin. Ezra Shaw/Getty ImagesMikaela Shiffrin, 30, says she worked with a psychologist to "desensitize" herself to the Olympics. That way, she would be able to better manage the pressure of the competition. She said she even visited Paris two summers ago to get a feel for the Olympic atmosphere. Mikaela Shiffrin, 30, may be a three-time Olympic gold medalist, but there was a time when just hearing the name of the Games felt overwhelming. On Friday's episode of "Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce," Shiffrin said getting ready for one of the biggest competitions in sports took years of work, much of it away from cameras and crowds. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"My Olympic experiences have been so wildly different. Now it's four, and I'm really aware, right now, of all of the work that's gone into — actually, not the medal — but the work that's gone into showing up on race day, and being able to show up with the mentality and the skiing that I wanted to do," Shiffrin told podcast host Kylie Kelce. The grind continued even away from the slopes, she said, especially when it came to managing the pressure that comes with the Games."Even this summertime, the amount of conversations I had with my psychologist talking about all the different feelings surrounding the Olympics, and like desensitizing to the word, and imagining the vibe, imagining the colors," Shiffrin said. She added that she even visited Paris two summers ago to get a feel for the Olympic atmosphere and "desensitize" herself to it. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementNot only that, Shiffrin has structured her life around staying physically and mentally ready at all times."There's just so much life outside of the sport, but we do so much of our life, you know, it's all geared towards the sport," Shiffrin said, adding that she hasn't had alcohol in two years because it tends to make her sick."And I'm like, I can't afford to be sick, literally ever. So, we're just going to not have any alcohol.