How to raise an Olympian, according to the parents of gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin

Starting early is key.Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

• Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin is a favorite in alpine skiing at this year’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

• She also won gold in Sochi in 2014, at the age of 18. becomingthe youngest person to win an Olympic gold medal in the slalom.

• Shiffrin’s parents introduced her and her brother to the sport at a young age.

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Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin’s interest in skiing didn’t just come out of nowhere.

Her parents — anesthesiologist Jeff and former nurse Eileen — were both avid skiers growing up, and later took up Masters racing.

And they introduced Shiffrin and her older brother Taylor to the sport at the early age. “They had us walking around the living room in these tiny, little, plastic Mickey Mouse skis that you just latched onto snow boots,” Taylor told The New York Post.

Flash forward two decades, and their World Cup-winning daughter is now on the verge of potentially making history at the Pyeongchang Games. She could become the first American woman to win three skiing medals at one Olympics, The Denver Post reported.

Shiffrin herself told The New York Times that she doesn’t think there’s a proper way to raise an Olympic champion, in that the “crazy path” she took “could not be replicated.”

Still, it’s interesting to look back at the steps the Shiffrins took to instill killer skiing skills and an intense work ethic in their daughter.