Already released prematurely on Monday from the giant of the Beijing Games, the 26-year-old American was eliminated after a few gates from the first round of the slalom on Wednesday, of which she was Olympic champion in 2014, and one of the immense favorites of the Chinese competition. .
Prostrate in the snow, head in arms. A world collapsed Wednesday for Mikaela Shiffrin, the skier of all records, who finally proved fallible. Unbalanced after only four gates, she had to give up the slalom after a few seconds in the first run, and failed to regain her Olympic title lost in 2018.
The 26-year-old champion, who has won 47 World Cup slaloms including two this winter – an absolute record in a single discipline – is usually a prodigy of consistency, to the point of having won more than a third of the events she has played in the World Cup.
There remains the super-G on Friday, then the downhill and the combined at the American to save her Games, she who already has three Olympic medals (gold in slalom in 2014 at 19 years old, gold in giant and silver in combined in 2018) .
“Maybe I had exceeded my limit, but I intended to do my best skiing and my fastest turns, and for that I had to push the line and the tactics […] I left with a very solid state of mind and was knocked out. It’s disappointing”said the American, on the verge of tears, during a long passage in the mixed zone.
Before letting go of a thin smile: “It’s not the end of the world, it’s really stupid to care so much, but I feel like I have to ask myself a lot of questions […] It’s a shame but in 24 hours, no one will care. Well, maybe it will take a little longer.
Lindsey Vonn ‘disgusted’
Already at the beginning of January, forced to take more risks in the face of the domination in slalom of the Slovak Petra Vlhova, she had made a mistake in slalom in Kranjska Gora (Slovenia) for the first time in four years. The Colorado skier is coming out of two difficult years, marked by the accidental death of her father in February 2020, then repeated back problems.
His surprise elimination follows that, just as surprising, of the giant on Monday, again in the first round. The last time she was out in two consecutive technical races, her specialty, was more than 10 years ago and December 2011 when she was 16 years old.
“Disgusted for Mikaela Shiffrin, but that doesn’t take away from her superb career and what she can still achieve if she gets back on track. Keep your head up”immediately tweeted the former great American champion, Lindsey Vonn.
Without Shiffrin, the race for the podium was wide open, and her rival Petra Vlhova, the current best slalomer, took the opportunity to win the day, winning her first Olympic title.