'Alpine ski queen' Mikaela Shiffrin became a hot topic after she uttered a swear word during a live interview. It was a momentary mistake amid the joy of a gold medal and mixed emotions, but the scene ended with laughter and empathy.
Shiffrin conducted a video interview with NBC's Today show in Milan, Italy, on the 19th (local time). She was speaking just after reclaiming the Olympic summit by winning the women's slalom held the day before.
In the interview, Shiffrin mentioned her father, Jeff Shiffrin, who suddenly passed away in 2020, and said, "Since then I have been on a spiritual journey," during which she suddenly let out a swear word as if overcome with emotion. She immediately covered her mouth and repeatedly apologized, saying, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry."
The Today show hosts instead comforted Shiffrin. Hoda Kotb joked, "It's okay, we'll take responsibility," and Carson Daly and Craig Melvin also laughed it off, saying, "We know what it means," and, "She's a gold medalist, so it's fine." At the end of the broadcast they expressed empathy by saying, "She's just like us."
Shiffrin later looked embarrassed, saying, "This is really the worst," but the interview continued in a warm atmosphere. She recounted that after winning the gold medal, fellow athletes offered her espresso martinis, and said with a laugh and another apology, "They kept telling me 'pace yourself' while handing me another glass. That might be one of the reasons the swear word came out."
After the broadcast, Daly added, "It wasn't a rehearsed answer. Talking about her father brought the emotions up in the moment," saying he understood Shiffrin's sincerity. Al Roker then lightened the mood with a joke, saying, "If I'd known, I would have done it first."
Meanwhile, Shiffrin's father, Jeff, suffered a head injury in an accident at his home in 2020 and died at the age of 65. At the time, her mother, Eileen, said, "Mikaela had her head on her father's chest for nine hours," and added, "It was an extremely difficult time for the whole family."
This gold medal marks Shiffrin's return to the Olympic summit after eight years and makes her the first U.S. skier to win three Olympic gold medals. She made history at the Milan–Cortina Winter Olympics, following Sochi in 2014 and PyeongChang in 2018.
After the competition, Shiffrin posted on social media, "I pushed through despite fear and the possibility of criticism, and in the end I did it. I won. I really won," and added, "This moment feels like winning the lottery," expressing her overwhelming emotions.
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