In a fascinating new interview released by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), two of alpine skiing’s most dominant athletes, Mikaela Shiffrin and Marco Odermatt, offer a rare glimpse into what separates good runs from great ones. In the video interview, both 2025–26 overall Crystal Globe winners describe a mental state that is strikingly similar, even if expressed in different ways: a kind of “flow state” where instinct takes over and performance feels almost effortless.
For Shiffrin, it’s about building and controlling energy. She describes her best runs as a ball of energy that keeps building with every turn, a continuous surge with each turn adding to a growing force that never quite peaks, like pressing a gas pedal without hesitation. “It’s not about wanting to win,” she explains. “When I think about winning, it never works. I just focus on the skiing.” Odermatt, by contrast, frames it through moments of perfection — those rare downhill runs where he crosses the finish line knowing nothing could have been done better. He says it has only happened a handful of times in his career, but when it does, it’s unmistakable. They admit, if they could describe it better, it might be replicable, but their own difficulty at describing the “flow state” in ski racing is what explains their dominance in skiing. Shiffrin has won six overall season titles while Odermatt has five to his name.
What makes the exchange compelling is how each athlete recognizes that mindset in the other. Shiffrin admits she studies Odermatt in the start gate, where the tension and emotion are most visible, searching for clues in how he composes himself before launching. Odermatt, meanwhile, points to Shiffrin’s precision and control — how she appears never quite on the limit, yet consistently faster than the field. Both suggest that the decisive factor isn’t physical ability alone, but the ability to access that mental state when it matters most.
It’s a theme that runs throughout the conversation: elite skiing is less about chasing victory and more about executing a feeling. Both athletes dismiss the idea of thinking about results mid-run, instead emphasizing focus, rhythm, and trust in preparation. “Every race starts from zero,” they stress, highlighting the sport’s unforgiving reset, “you are rewriting the book every time.” Added to that is the incredible burden of expectations — whether internal or external — that an athlete at this level faces.
Perhaps most intriguing is their admission that this “flow” is difficult to define, even for those who experience it regularly. Many athletes are fast in training — faster than these two star athletes. But training times don’t always translate to race results, and the difference often lies in something intangible — a mental switch that can’t be taught or replicated. Both athletes circle around the same conclusion: at the highest level, success depends on accessing a state where thought gives way to instinct and feeling, which lets the pressure melt away.
In a sport measured in hundredths of a second, Shiffrin and Odermatt suggest the real margin lies in the mind.
