CORTINA d’AMPEZZO, Italy — When she flashed past the finish line, smashing her Olympic mental block into rubble, Mikaela Shiffrin decelerated and stared at the scoreboard. Stared some more. Kept staring. For several seconds, there was no reaction at all.
Roars reverberated around her. Everyone at the Olympia delle Tofane was celebrating Shiffrin’s return to quadrennial dominance, winning the gold medal that had weirdly eluded her for eight years and eight consecutive Olympic races. But it took a moment to get there herself Wednesday—a moment of confusion, then caution, then inner clarity.
