11/02/2026
The Real Difference Between Olympians and Everyone Else
A Tribute to My Favorite 2026 Olympians
by Gary Miller | The Coach
Owner of Humancharger.us
I learned what an Olympian was long before I coached one.
It wasn’t on a podium.
It wasn’t at a World Cup.
It wasn’t even on a race hill.
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It was sitting in a ski lodge as a young skier – me - with toes so frostbitten that I was crying while they thawed in front of a fireplace.
Outside, it was brutally cold and windy. The race had been miserable. Snow conditions were icy. However, once my toes thawed out, I buckled my boots, bundled up, and went right back outside.
Why? I went back out because not going back wasn’t an option. Skiing was too much fun!
People think Olympians are defined by winning. They aren’t. They are defined by what they do the day after things go wrong.
And in the sport of ski racing, a lot of things can go wrong.
I’ve noticed something over the years. The best athletes all share one strange trait: They forget faster than everyone else (just like a Goldfish).
Contrary to popular belief, most Olympians are not the most gifted athletes. They are the individuals who respond to failure differently.
Every ski racer crashes – sometimes very hard.
Every ski racer gets injured at some point.
Every ski racer doubts themselves at times.
The difference? The great ones come back stronger every. single. time.
Ski racing is not a controlled sport. There’s no defense – just offense, full gas. You don’t call a timeout. And, most often, you don’t get a second try. Screw up either run, and the party is over for that day. We fail way more than we win or podium. Get up, dust off, and move on.
You point the skis downhill, and learn to be comfortable skiing at highway speeds on snow or ice, knowing that:
The surface changes.
The weather changes.
The course and terrain change.
And, more often than not, the mountain wins!
Yet, all great athletes consistently share one common trait: They don’t interpret fear or setbacks as failure. They interpret them as data.
As human beings, we’re all diverse. The same goes for Olympians. They are just hard-wired differently. Afterall, skiing down an ice rink tipped at up to 40° at Mach 2 with your hair on fire requires a slightly different software package.
Here is a group of 2026 Olympians I had the privilege to coach, just over a decade ago. In such a beautiful yet dangerous sport, they are a testament to courage, determination, and the will to never, never, never, give up. No matter how many setbacks, injuries, and near misses, these Olympians keep coming back for more.
I pay homage to the following 2026 Winter Olympians:
Mikaela Shiffrin - The Daily Professional
Undoubtedly, the world’s greatest ski racer, with over 108 Ski World Cup wins, multiple Olympic and World Championship medals, 7 World Cup titles, and 8 Reindeer in Levi, Finland (yep, the winner gets a Reindeer).
Mikaela is tough, disciplined, hardworking, smart, and one of the best at employing the “goldfish principle” (aka, short memory when things go south).
However, she’s not indestructible, having faced a couple of serious injuries that have shortened two competitive seasons. Nonetheless, she overcomes and continues to march forward as if nothing had happened.
Paula Moltzan — The Athlete Who Refuses the Narrative
Sometimes, it’s just “mind over matter.”
A Midwest girl who was dealt the “flatlander” card grew up skiing at Buck Hill, Minnesota. The repetitions every night after school molded her into a highly confident, finely tuned, and determined athlete.
The consummate grinder over the past decade, Paula is a World Junior Champion, an NCAA Champion, a World Champion, and now an Olympic medalist.
She’s a shining example of mind over matter.
Breezy Johnson — Recovery after Recovery
Here is where many careers end. Not after the crash, but during the months afterward.
The consummate maverick, Breezy likes to carve her own path. Talented, determined, with a mix of stubbornness, has kept the fire burning over the past decade. And she’s needed it.
She’s had four knee injuries in five years, which forced her to miss the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.
Knowing Breezy, those injuries were just enough to motivate her, as she came roaring back in 2023 with a World Championship. And to prove it wasn’t a fluke, she became an Olympic Champion in Cortina on Sunday!
Hats off, Breezy – one hell of a great race!
AJ Ginnis – Persistence and the Long Game
Some athletes succeed early. Others spend years close but not quite there.
Born in Greece, AJ moved to the USA at 15 years old and attended the Green Mountain Valley Ski Academy. In 2012, he was named to the US Ski Team but tore his ACL the following season.
In 2015, along with Paula and Nina, AJ was on my World Junior Championship team in Hafjell, Norway, where he won the Bronze Medal in the Slalom.
Enduring 5 major surgeries on one knee, AJ was still able to win the Silver Medal at the World Championships in 2023 and make the 2026 Olympic Team.
Olympians like AJ tolerate delayed reward longer than normal people. They keep investing when the return is invisible.
Lila Lapanja - Defiance Every Step of the Way
At some point, every athlete faces a moment where quitting would be reasonable. Lila never got that memo.
Lila was also on our US Ski Team in 2014/15 but was sidelined with an injured back that just didn’t want to heal. However, she just never gave up.
She’s competed on the Europa Cup, the NorAm’s, the World Cup, and is a two-time National Champion in both the Slalom and Giant Slalom.
And just when everyone thought her career ended with the US Ski Team, she was embraced by the Slovenian National Team. Through sheer will, determination, and heart, Lila finally realized her dream of becoming an Olympian this season.
Food for Thought
The Olympian isn’t reckless. They possess a stubborn refusal to let circumstances decide the outcome of their story. In essence, they choose to write the next chapter themselves.
Most people interpret adversity as a verdict. True Olympians interpret adversity as a lesson.
They don’t avoid difficulty. They metabolize it. Failure doesn’t discourage them — it instructs them.
The same behavior shows up in business, parenting, and leadership. The individuals who succeed long-term are rarely the most naturally talented.
I think back often to that kid warming his feet by the fire. The pain was real. Quitting would have been normal for most. Instead, I buckled my boots and went back outside.
Decisions like that, repeated hundreds of times over the years, is what eventually creates an Olympian.
Thanks for reading!
- Gary Miller, Owner of Humancharger.us