Olympics
For the second time in as many events at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Mikaela Shiffrin, 26, failed to complete her first run in a technical competition, eliminating her from the women’s slalom, her best discipline. Just two days ago, during her first giant slalom qualifying run, Shiffrin slipped, missed a gate, and didn’t finish.
Just five seconds into the first qualifying run of Wednesday’s women’s slalom at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, Shiffrin went off course and bailed out, costing her another chance of a gold medal.
“I was pushing out of the start. I had full intentions of skiing as hard as I could.”
– Mikaela Shiffrin
The last time Shiffrin did not finish a slalom race was the first qualifying run in January 2017 during a World Cup competition in Zagreb, Croatia reports the FIS.
Shiffrin skied to the side of the course and sat down with her head in her arms. She remained there for several minutes, even as other competitors skied by. Her team members had to comfort her and usher her off the course.
Afterward, Shiffrin gave a heartfelt and emotional interview where she said she had been questioning the last fifteen years.
“Pretty much everything. Makes me second guess like the last 15 years. Everything I thought I knew about my own skiing and slalom and racing mentality. Just processing a lot for sure. And I feel really bad. There’s a lot more going on today than just my little ol’ situation, but I feel really bad for doing that.”
– Mikaela Shiffrin
Shiffrin could still compete in three more individual events at the 2022 Winter Olympics: super-G, downhill, and combined.
Shiffrin’s main rival, Petra Vlhova, came from behind to take the gold on her final run, winning Slovakia’s first-ever medal in alpine skiing.
Shiffrin remains the all-time winningest slalom champion with 47 world cup victories in this discipline.
Gutted for @MikaelaShiffrin but this does not take away from her storied career and what she can and will accomplish going forward. Keep your head high ❤️ pic.twitter.com/fSgqSii0JA
— lindsey vonn (@lindseyvonn) February 9, 2022
