Olympic champion Frida Hansdotter: Mikaela Shiffrin will "always be the girl, a superstar” despite Beijing disappointment

Frida Hansdotter loves pressure.

That pressure to perform pushed her to a surprise slalom gold at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games.

Her two fast aggressive runs stunned the field that included the defending Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin for the gold medal, to date 'her best memory of the Games’.

Though now retired from alpine skiing competition, the 37-year-old Swede's focus has still been on the slopes at Beijing 2022.

She’s watched the world’s greatest skier endure some of the most difficult moments in her career- a third 'Did Not Finish' (DNF).

The ensuing criticism, the strain on Shiffrin - not the kind of pressure Hansdotter likes but one she knows far too well.

“Our sport, slalom is brutal. It's just one minute and you have to go full, and anything can easily happen,” she told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview.

“Mikaela has always been so strong. So now when she's one or two DNFs then it's a shock for everyone because she's always up there chasing those medals.”

“I would tell her, 'You are good, be strong and go for it. Just show them that you will be back',” she continued.

That is something the three-time Olympian has always liked doing, trying to be more considerate and sensible.

Traits that could have endeared her fellow athletes to support her candidature for the IOC Athletes’ Commission.

Athletes at the Winter Games in Beijing elected her alongside Martin Fourcade, to represent their voice within the Olympic movement, for a term of eight years.

The Athletes' Commission currently chaired by Emma Terho plays a central role within the Olympic Movement, representing the global athlete voice within the IOC and the Olympic Movement.

The Commission is composed of a maximum of 23 members, 12 of whom are directly chosen through elections during the Games, with a maximum of 11 appointed members to ensure a balance between genders, regions and sports.

Read more in the transcript of our interview below, lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

Hansdotter on Beijing 2022 and her election to the IOC Athletes' Commission: The first thing is to listen to the athletes, ensure fair play and equality

Olympic Channel / Olympics.com (OC): Congratulations on your election to the IOC Athletes' Commission. It was a historic election as a record 16 candidates from all the five continents and six winter sports stood for election. What do you think tipped the scales in your favour?

FH: Thank you! It's a pleasure to be elected, such an honour. The athletes voted for me because they believe in me and that they want me to be their voice and the link between them and the IOC. I will try to do my best for them and put the athletes’ interests first and work hard for them. It’s a real privilege.

OC: What’s your immediate goal as a member of the commission?

FH: The first thing is to listen to the athletes for sure, to understand their needs. The three things I would say is to put the athletes first, try to ensure fair play and equality.

I think it's super, super important to have the Athletes' Commission and as an athlete, you don’t always have time and the energy to put in questions and so you need these representatives who help bring attention to your different matters.

OC: As an Olympic champion and a three-time Olympian what’s the best memory you have of the Games?

FH: My best memory from the Olympic Games, it's my gold medal. It was a dream come true. It's something that I really worked hard for. To be able to perform my best on that day, in the two rounds. It’s a great, great memory that will always stay with me.

OC: How much of the Olympics have you managed to watch and what has been your highlight so far?

Frida Hansdotter (FH): I’ve been up a lot during the nights and watched a lot of great sports. I try to follow as much as I can. Since I am in Sweden, when I was watching alpine skiing, sometimes I slept during the first round so that I can watch the second round. The Olympics is special, and it's so nice to see all the athletes, and I hope they had the best Games. It’s one of the times when I really miss racing because I loved travelling to the Olympics. I'd done three Olympics and it was special to be in the last Swedish Olympic team and to go there together and try to reach the goals that I dreamt of since I was a little child.

OC: What do you make of the Swedish team at Beijing 2022 so far?

FH: It's one of the best Games for the Swedish Olympic Committee and I'm so happy for them. I'm sitting home on the sofa, just screaming, and cheering for them. And I know the feeling and I know the effort they put in. It is so nice to see them succeed and to get those medals. Everyone is aiming for the medals but it's just three in every event.

Frida Hansdotter: To Mikaela “show them that you will be back."

OC: You mentioned you have been watching action from Beijing. How would you feel if what happened to Shiffrin at the Olympics happened to you at such a top event and what advice would you give to her?

FH: Mikaela, she's such a nice person and she's one of the best in our sport and she will always be the girl. She has done something that most of us just dream of. So, if she didn't succeed in this Olympics, she will be at the next Olympics. She has so, so many good results and she's a superstar.

I just hope that she can be strong and come back even stronger.

I would tell her this doesn't matter. You put your very best but you were not the best that day and you really tried.

Our sport, slalom, is brutal. It's just one minute and you have to go full, and anything can easily happen.

Mikaela has always been so strong. So now when she's one or two DNFs then it's a shock for everyone because she's always up there chasing those medals. But I would tell her, 'you are good, be strong and go for it. Just show them that you will be back.'

OC: There has been a lot of focus on mental health recently at the top level of competition in both the Winter and Summer Olympics. How did you manage to handle the pressure to perform at the Worlds and Olympics?

I loved that pressure. Travelling to those big events like World Championships or Olympics, was my best moment. I love the pressure and for sure, sometimes it can be heavy because you put the pressure on yourself because you want to succeed, and you want to have a medal when you go back home.

Pressure can be tough, but I always try to think in a positive way that if someone said, ‘Oh, you're going for the medal, do you think you will take it?' And there I was thinking if they asked the question, like, 'will you take a medal?' Then I have a big job. I took everything positively and just went for it and tried to have fun.

Advice to younger self: "Have fun, experience the joy from the sport"

OC: How has your perspective changed since you became Colin’s mum?

FH: Colin he's one year and one month already. My perspective has changed, but I feel I’m the same person. Now I put him in the first spot because I always had my career, always trying to go faster, and to be stronger. I am a family person. And now I can only think about him, and it's so nice, it's a new chapter in life, and I really love becoming a mum. He gives me so much happiness, joy.

OC: As a top athlete, you are also an entrepreneur. You have founded a business on health and coaching, you are doing some PR work, designing clothes and even have a clothing brand. Did you develop these skills before you retired? Why was it important for you to cultivate skills and interests outside skiing?

FH: I always had some plans, and I started to think about what I wanted to do after my career. I had a long career and I'm super happy that I could ski till I was 35. I knew there was life after my career also. I started to think about it and now I'm super happy to be running my own business and I to learn about different, different things.

I'm driven and I like to have a set of goals that I am aiming for. That's what I also loved about skiing to see how far I can go. It’s the same in my personal life to have goals. I'm satisfied with my life after my career.

OC: What advice would you give a young Frida who is just starting out her sporting career?

FH: I did alpine skiing since I was two or three. But I started to compete when I was six or seven years old, but I would say it was more when I was 11 or 12, that I decided I want to see how far I can reach in alpine skiing.

Sometimes people ask me about my (Olympic) gold medal and they say this must be the best thing in my career. Sure in terms of the results, it's the best thing. But if I go back, I will say, my best memory from skiing was when I was a kid and skiing on my home slope with friends and family and just having fun. So I would tell young Frida that's the most important thing - have fun experience the joy from the sport even as you work hard to get your goals.