American Mikaela Shiffrin shows her bronze medal on the podium of the women’s slalom at the alpine ski World Championships in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, on Saturday. (AP photo)

Every year.

The American skier won four medals in her four events at the recently concluded world championships and improved her career record at the next-biggest event in skiing after the Olympics to 11 medals in 13 races.

Her Olympic record? Three medals in five events.

That’s a combined 14 for 18 at major championships — worlds and Olympics.

Bronze medallist Mikaela Shiffrin, left, hugs silver medallist Petra Vlhova in the finish area of the women's slalom at the alpine ski World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, on Saturday. (AP photo)

To put those numbers in perspective, consider Lindsey Vonn’s career results at major championships. While the retired Vonn remains the most successful female skier in World Cup history with a record 82 victories (the 25-year-old Shiffrin has 68 World Cup wins and counting), her haul of 11 medals in 39 races already pales in comparison to Shiffrin’s performance.

So how does Shiffrin do it? Well, beyond her extraordinary skiing skills and years and years of training, it’s all about her mental approach.

Shiffrin, you see, has had the same exact focus for medal races since her very first big event — the 2013 worlds in Schladming, Austria. Or, to be more precise, since halfway through the slalom at those worlds, when she won the world title at age 17 for her first medal.

Shiffrin recently thought back to that race, acknowledging that she was “freaking out” between runs.

After the first leg, Shiffrin sat third behind Scandinavian veterans Frida Hansdotter and Tanja Poutiainen, and had Maria Höfl-Riesch and Tina Maze — two of the greatest skiers of their generation — breathing down her neck in fourth and fifth position, respectively.

Shiffrin was listening to music on her headphones but having a tough time taming her nerves inside the hospitality area when U.S. teammate Steven Nyman walked in and asked her mom and coach, Eileen, what the problem was.

“He said, ‘Alright, alright, alright. Tell her to take her headphones off, we have to have a discussion,'” Shiffrin said. “And we did. And he said, ‘World championships there is one goal. You’re not trying to protect your lead in the overall title or the season titles or anything. You’re not protecting anything. You go for gold, that’s it. … You have everything to gain and nothing to lose. So go for it.’

“And I was like, ‘Huh. That’s really interesting. OK,'” Shiffrin added. “And it didn’t, like, take away my nerves of whether I could ski faster, make up the time difference, or all those different pieces. But it got me psyched up just to do my best. And every world championships since then, whether I’m nervous or I’m feeling great — it doesn’t matter — I have always remembered what Steven said.”