BEIJING, China — Two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin’s second race at the Beijing Games ended even more quickly than her first.
Just like in her first event of these Olympics, the giant slalom, the American racer was done for the day within a matter of seconds.
Shiffrin appeared to yell out as she skidded out of control in the slalom, which she won at the 2014 Sochi Games. She skied over the the edge of the course and sat down, bowing her head. She stayed there for several minutes.
According to the U.S. Ski & Snowboarding Team, 26-year-old Shiffrin is “OK, but disappointed” after the “heartbreaking” miss. Earlier, Shiffrin herself had called her disqualification from the opening leg of the giant slalom “a huge disappointment.”
Shiffrin has spoken openly about the pressure created by the weight of expectations — her own, of course, and those of fans, but also coaches, friends and family. She also is upfront about the burden of dealing with the accidental death of her father, Jeff, two years ago.
Shiffrin is trying to become the first Alpine ski racer from the United States to win three Olympic golds across a career. She has said she hoped to enter all five individual events at Yanqing Alpine Skiing Center, leaving three more chances at that gold.
So far, though, Shiffrin is 0 for 2, unable even to complete a substantial portion of the first leg of either of her first two events. Both the slalom and giant slalom are specialties of hers, two-run technical races that combine two times.
It is not stunning that she hasn’t won a medal, let alone a gold. As Shiffrin herself so often reminds everyone, anything can happen on any given day. What is truly surprising is that she has been so off her game so immediately in each of her two trips along the course known as the Ice River.
Shiffrin’s next race could be the super-G on Friday. She never has competed in that event at an Olympics but did win it at the 2019 world championships.
She already owns three Olympic medals, including golds in slalom in 2014 and in giant slalom in 2018.