Mikaela Shiffrin Comments On US Women's Soccer Team's Early World Cup Exit
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Mikaela Shiffrin, the greatest alpine skier of all-time, is a passionate fan of the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (USWNT). She has publicly supported the team through various posts on social media for years.
In case you missed it, the USWNT was bounced from the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup last weekend after a heartbreaking lost to Sweden.
Rather than criticize the team, Shiffrin used social media to double-down on her support. The Tweets below were posted on August 11th, 2023. Keep scrolling for the full message copied and pasted into the article.
I’ve been thinking a lot the last few days about the impact of the @USWNT and wanted to share some thoughts...
Keep your heads up…I somehow feel like this is just the beginning. ❤️💪⚽️ pic.twitter.com/wRhEKmrSFx— Mikaela Shiffrin (@MikaelaShiffrin) August 11, 2023
Shiffrin is sympathetic to their situation. Not surprising considering she is no stranger to failing on the international stage.
One of the biggest stories of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics was Shiffrin's failure to win a medal in multiple competitions in which she was the heavy favorite. Her performance was unfortunately marred by multiple DNFs.
Shiffrin was obviously upset, but dominated the World Cup circuit the next season to the tune of breaking Ingemar Stenmark's longtime wins record, and another Overall season title in her already-impressive trophy case.
It seems that Shiffrin sees a similar future for the USWNT.
Her quote in the final paragraph stands out:
"Ya, it's a big loss. But that doesn't mean anything is over.
Strangely enough, I somehow feel like it's just the beginning. Amazing job, @uswnt - your impact is vast and will positively affect generations to come."
Shiffrin's entire message can be read below:
Small weigh-in here a few days post match -people will have their opinions, it happens time and time again that the whole world decides that we all are the experts on something we actually know next to nothing about.
Of course, a lot of people know about football/soccer, but not so much about the specific dynamics within the team, the organization, all the little things that happen on a daily basis. And I'm not saying it was bad or insinuating anything at all because I too have no idea. There easily could have been a LOT of good, great, and spectacular moments throughout the last few weeks.
We just don't see everything. We don't know everything. And I think it's important to remember that before pressing "post" in the comment section. Believe me, I'm not trying to say that it's wrong for anyone to have an opinion. I'm not even talking about the soccer/football specifically itself.
Many individuals out there seem to think their scathing wrath about this team, or the coach, or a few particular players, or the whole vibe, or whatever, is really truly justified and they're gonna speak up about it no matter what. These conversations (if that's what you call them) are truly unavoidable in big moments where a lot of people care. But sometimes I just feel like it's awful.
So incredibly ugly and hateful, especially when you are basically isolated at the wrong end of the barrel. Sure, this is a team, and my hope is that they are able take comfort in their togetherness and motivation from the loss, but there is always an overwhelming feeling of isolation that arrives with a defeat like this.
Look people, this happens. I don't even mean that this happens because "that's life". I mean that this is literally-exactly- what does and really should happen when the bar is raised. The world works as hard as they can to catch up and they do catch up.
It is my firm belief that there's absolutely no chance that others won't catch up once they've seen that there is a path they can take to catch up. It is also undeniable that our USWNT raised the bar for soccer (and women's sports in general) so exponentially that the entire world had no choice but to find that path, and start sprinting.
And I have no doubt that our team will find their own path yet again, sprint yet again, and raise that bar yet again. And they will continue to do this while advocating for women's sports, equality and inclusivity the entire time.
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