Mikaela Shiffrin Roasts ESPN's Pat McAfee: "You Guys Yap Like No Other"
Following an incredible performance at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympic Games, Mikaela Shiffrin‘s status as one of the greatest athletes of all time has transcended the winter sports world.
ESPN’s Pat McAfee show, which most often covers MLB, college, and professional football, welcomed Shiffrin to the show yesterday, March 3, 2026.
Shiffrin joined and noted immediately that McAfee “yaps like no other,” which is an accurate description if ever we’ve heard one. McAfee, who kept referring to Shiffrin as “GOAT,” started off wanting to know how Shiffrin had accomplished so much by just the age of 30. Always a classy, well-spoken interview, Shiffrin explained that while 30 is pretty young, it’s actually the older end of the spectrum in ski racing.
Luckily, McAfee allows Shiffrin to do a bit of the “yapping” as she explains the World Cup season and touches on some of the more significant races (such as the one in Levi, Finland, where the prize is a live reindeer).
McAfee also brings up Lindsey Vonn, another of the US’s most talented ski racers, and asks Shiffrin how two Americans have become so successful in a sport that’s more prominent in Europe.
You can watch the full interview and more of McAfee’s yapping below. Keep reading for more.
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McAfee’s co-host, Darius Butler, asks whether Shiffrin has begun to consider what she’ll do when she eventually retires from racing.
Although ski racing is where she’s shone brightest, Shiffrin is a woman of many talents and, amongst other endeavors, appeared on the singing reality TV show The Voice last spring.
She tells Butler she’s recently started a podcast, which has opened a new world of media production for her.
McAfee also asks Shiffrin what she’s doing with her gold medals (the important questions, right?) and suggests she could just “wear it,” make it into a belt buckle, or hang it from her back pocket like US Olympic Hockey player Jack Hughes. (Can you hear our face palm?)
It’s real heavy-hitting sports journalism, all the way through, but Shiffrin gives as gracious an interview as ever, reminding everyone of how poised she is on and off the slopes.
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