Mikaela Shiffrin has fellow Team USA athlete Ilia Malinin's back after they both failed to reach the 2026 Winter Olympics podium. "The Olympics ask us to take a real risk on the world stage," Shiffrin, 30, wrote to Malinin, 21, in an Instagram comment on Saturday, February 14. "One that requires courage and vulnerability to erroneous judgment and narratives built on a limited understanding of what the sport truly demands." She continued, "And it all matters in the story of becoming the best version of ourselves. We love deeply because we know loss.