Will MIkaela Shiffrin be in the next Olympics? What USA star has said about potential retirement, French Alps 2030

Mikaela Shiffrin not only battled her opponents but Father Time at the 2026 Olympics.

With her gold medal in slalom, she became the youngest and oldest American ever to win Olympic gold in the event. She first won at 18, and her 2026 victory came at 30.

The Olympics are the pinnacle of sport, contested on a global stage. Physical fitness is paramount, and Shiffrin will be 34 years old when the next Winter Games arrive. She has competed in the Olympics since she was a teenager, and it is no secret that the end of her Olympic career is drawing near.

Here is more on Shiffrin’s future and whether she plans to compete in the 2030 Olympics.

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Will Mikaela Shiffrin be in the next Olympics?

Shiffrin has not decided if she will participate in the next Olympics. A lot could change over the next four years, and she would still have to qualify for her events if she does choose to compete. 

After winning her gold medal in slalom, Shiffrin kept her reaction short and to the point. 

I won.🥇

Before winning her gold medal, Shiffrin had been struggling, continually coming up short in events since taking fourth in the 2018 Olympics. She said, "The irony is I've cared so much about wanting everybody to know the reality and to not want to answer those questions and to be so sick and tired of it. And I’ve felt that way since (being) fourth in South Korea in the slalom." And then about the win she said, "In order to do this today, I kind of needed to accept the possibility that those questions would keep coming. It was like, just don't resist it. Just live in my own moment.”

The gold medal win moved Shiffrin into a tie with Shaun White and Kaillie Humphries for second-most gold medals for American athletes at the Winter Olympics. She now has four total medals in alpine skiing, which moves her into a tie for most in the event by an American woman. 

About competing, Shiffrin said, "The reality of our sport is you lose a lot more than you win. When you look back on my career, I know statistics and everything, but still I've definitely lost a lot more than I've won. So that's the one thing that's certain is that you're not going to win everything.”