Mikaela Shiffrin will not be able to defend her gold in giant slalom.
In Beijing on Monday, the 26-year-old champion made a rare error at the National Alpine Center in Yanquig when she lost control just seconds into her first run and fell to her left hip. She skied out for the first time in years, breaking her 30-race streak.
Thus, Shiffrin, who was touted as the gold medal threat this year, was disqualified from the women’s giant slalom competition.
Had she won the discipline, she would have become the first alpine ski racer from the U.S. to win three Olympic golds.
“Man, I was attacking and just a small miss timing of when I set my edges and just slipped out. It’s amazing surface, it’s such amazing conditions, but you don’t have any room for some small errors or anything like that and I was pushing, so I’m really happy with that but five gates into the course, that stings,” Shiffrin told NBC.
“It’s hard not to dwell, especially for me, I’m always dwelling on these heartbreaking days but I just cannot afford to spend or waste energy on something that’s now in the past. Could have been a really beautiful day to be doing some good GS racing and that’s not the path I’m taking any more this Olympics so gonna reset focus on what I can control for the slalom, still long two weeks to go and I’m still looking forward to it,” she said.
“I’m sorry that that was the performance I did today. But that also happens and well, I want to hide the disappointment, but I also am not going to dwell on that because that’s not going to help me at all,” shared Shiffrin, whose mother Eileen serves as her coach.
The giant slalom was one of her three top chances to secure a medal. Shiffrin will likely compete in all five alpine races, with four more remaining — the slalom, super-G, downhill and alpine — in her third Olympics.
In a recent interview with PEOPLE, the Colorado native spoke about his sudden death and how she’s moved through her grief.
“It’s taken so long just to get to this point,“Shiffrinsaid. “I’m not even close to being done grieving, but every day I feel that spark and motivation returning. It’s like healing from an injury. You get to the point where you can race again, but it still hurts sometimes.”
The star added, “I’ve learned you have to live your life and do the things you like and be who you are. I’m getting my fire back … With every day that passes, I’m able to put more energy back into skiing.”
To learn more about Team USA, visitTeamUSA.org. Watch the Winter Olympics, now, and the Paralympics, beginning March 4, on NBC.
source: people.com
