American Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin's struggles continued Wednesday as she posted another DNF (Did Not Finish) in the Slalom event. This was an event that she had won Olympic Gold in 2014. Shiffrin missed a gate only five seconds into her first run. On Sunday, the heralded American skier missed a gate just 11 seconds into her first run of the Giant Slalom event. She was the defending gold medalist in that event.
Former Olympic skiing champion Lindsey Vonn shared her thoughts on Twitter.
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
As Vonn points out, the failures of Shiffrin thus far in Beijing do not take away from her amazing success she has had throughout her career. Yet, now is a tough time for her to take solace and comfort in that fact.
After the race, she answered questions with NBC and had to fight back tears, as noted by ESPN's D'Arcy Maine. “It makes me second-guess the last 15 years, everything I thought I knew about my own skiing and slalom and racing mentality,” Shiffrin said. “Just processing a lot, for sure.”
Shiffrin also detailed her preparation for this Olympics as different than normal. She pointed out she dealt with back injuries in October and November and then caught COVID-19 in December. But she certainly is not making excuses.
She still has three other individual racing events in these Olympics. Shiffrin hopes to become just the second female American skier to win a gold medal in three consecutive Olympics.
Her next chance will be Friday at the Super G downhill event.
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