Mikaela Shiffrinis coming up empty-handed after failing to place during her first downhill Olympics event.
After the women’s downhill event was delayed because of weather conditions on Tuesday (Eastern), the best skiers in the world were finally able to hit the slopes to compete for gold. Unfortunately,Shiffrin’s run clocked in at 1:34.36, putting her seconds behind the leading run times.
Although Shiffrin didn’t place in her first-ever downhill event at the Olympics, it served as a chance for the decorated skier to prepare for the downhill segment of the combined event, which includes downhill runs as well as slalom runs. Shiffrin took home the silver medal for the combined event in 2018.
While defending her gold medal in giant slalom last week,Shiffrin lost controljust seconds into her run at the National Alpine Center in Yanquig, falling on her left hip. The three-time Olympic medal winner then skied out for the first time in years, ending her 30-race streak, and was disqualified from the event.
If she had taken home the gold in the giant slalom event, she would’ve become the first American Alpine skier to nab three gold medals in her discipline.
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“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,” she told NBC at the time.
Additionally, Shiffrinskied out of her second eventof this year’s Olympics, missing the gate and earning another “did not finish” (DNF) in the slalom — an event in which she previously won a gold medal.She also finished 9thin the women’s super-G event last week.
“I would never have expected to feel in this moment, severely underperforming in an Olympics, I would never have felt that humans could be so kind,” she admitted to NBC after her 9th place finish, adding, “It’s the most surprising thing of my Olympic experience, is how kind people have been in the face of my failure. I mean, it is failure. It’s okay to say that.”
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Speaking with PEOPLEin November about the pressures Olympic athletes face, Shiffrin opened up about dealing with the ups and downs that come with competing at such a high level.
“At the end of the day, you can drive yourself crazy looking at numbers and thinking about records and if you’re going to break it or if you’re not going to break it, and you can set yourself up to feel disappointed for the rest of your life,” she said.
“But at the end of the day … my whole career, it’s been successful,” Shiffrin added. “It’s been highs and lows but I’m really proud of it. And I’m still racing. I’m not done yet, but I can look back and feel proud already.”
To learn more about Team USA, visitTeamUSA.org. Watch the Winter Olympics, now, and the Paralympics, beginning March 4, on NBC.
source: people.com
