Mikaela Shiffrin borrowed skis from Italy's Sofia Goggia for the Alpine combined at the Olympics.- Shiffrin said Goggia left her a motivational note on the skis that nearly made her cry.
Italy's Sofia Goggia tried to motivate Mikaela Shiffrin via a sticky note before the Alpine combined.
Shiffrin, competing in her fifth event of the Beijing Olympics, borrowed skis from Goggia for the downhill portion of the event. Goggia won a silver medal in the downhill but was not competing in the combined event.
Shiffrin told NBC that prior to her run in the downhill combined, she noticed a message on the skis from Goggia.
"She actually wrote a small message on them on a sticky note," Shiffrin said. "I saw it at the start, and I almost started crying.
"It was just like, 'You can fly on these skis,' or something like that."
The US Ski and Snowboard Team later tweeted an image of Shiffrin with the skis and note, which read, "FLY MIKA, YOU CAN."
—U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team (@usskiteam) February 17, 2022
Shiffrin tried a pair of Goggia's skis during a training run yesterday, and she posted the fastest time of the field. Shiffrin said Goggia is actively using the pair, but let her borrow them for the downhill combined — although Shiffrin brought 60 pairs of skis to Beijing.
Shiffrin may have been able to find motivation in using Goggia's skis. Goggia's silver medal in the downhill was one of the most impressive of the Beijing Olympics, as Goggia partially tore her ACL and fractured her fibula in a January 23 crash in Italy. Goggia was still able to make it to Beijing, get in a few training runs, then post a medal-winning time on Tuesday.
Afterward, Shiffrin said it seemed "impossible" that Goggia even made it to Beijing and was able to compete.
The US Ski and Snowboard Team posted a photo of the two skiers together after the downhill, with a message from Shiffrin.
—U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team (@usskiteam) February 15, 2022
Shiffrin finished fifth in the downhill portion of the combined event, keeping her in medal contention heading into the slalom.
It's been a bumpy ride in Beijing for Shiffrin, who did not finish her first two events. She rebounded to finish two events since, placing ninth in the super-G and 18th in the downhill. The combined downhill is her last shot at an individual medal in Beijing.