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American skier Mikaela Shiffrin said she was inspired by Russian skater Adelina Sotnikova, shoots for five medals in 2018
American Mikaela Shiffrin won the women's slalom to become the youngest Alpine skier in Olympic history to win gold and she says she owes some of her performance to Russian figure skater Adelina Sotnikova.
Shiffrin said Saturday that she watched Sotnikova’s gold-medal winning performance the night before her event and was inspired by the 17-year-old Russian phenom.
[ Photos: Olympic crush Mikaela Shiffrin ]
Shiffrin even said she applied some of the way Sotnikova skated into her skiing.
"I guess I should break a piece of that medal off and give it to the gold medalist in the figure skating competition because I watched her the night before my race and I saw that she was able to flow more than anybody else and she kept her skates moving," Shiffrin said.
"And I took that into my skiing and I just tried to keep my skis moving all the way down the course. I really appreciated the beauty of her routine."
Now Shiffrin is the inspiration for many young skiers and she decided to further her legend by making a bold prediction for the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
“Right now I'm dreaming of the next Olympics, winning five gold medals, which sounds really crazy,” Shiffrin said. “Sorry I just admitted that to you all."
[ Watch: Crazy moment lifts Shiffrin to gold ]
Shriffrin knows she’ll be hearing about her prediction for the next four years, but Alpine skiing is one of the few sports where competitors actually get better with age and Shriffin, who will be 22 in 2018, will be hitting her prime.
"I'm still young and I still have a lot of strength to gain over the next few summers of conditioning and the next few winters of skiing," Shiffrin said. "I don't want to push myself too far too fast and definitely don't get greedy, but at the same time, I'm a dreamer.”
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