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American skier Mikaela Shiffrin blows gate in slalom, out of event

By Ivan Pereira, ABC News Feb 9, 2022 | 5:02 AM


Tom Pennington/Getty Images

(BEIJING) — For the second straight competition, Mikaela Shiffrin has busted out of the competition just seconds into the first run.

Shiffrin missed the fourth gate in her slalom run, the event where she won her first Olympic gold in 2014, and will not contend for a medal.

The skier, who was expected to challenge for several medals in Beijing, sat on the side of the hill, with her head in her hands, for minutes after the accident.

The second run will come later in the evening.

The 26-year-old also fell during her first run in the giant slalom on Monday, disqualifying her from the event.

“Could blame it on a lot of things…and we’ll analyze it till the cows come home, but not today,” Shiffrin said on Instagram following that crash. “Today I chalk it up to really awful timing of a really frustrating mistake. Moving focus to slalom now, AND cheering for my teammates in the second run of the GS and the DH!”

Sweden’s Sara Hector took the gold with a time of 1:55:68, followed by Italy’s Federica Brignone with a time of 1:55.97 and Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Behrami with a time of 1:56:41.

Shiffrin is one medal away from tying the record for most Olympic medals by a female American Alpine skier, four. She is two gold medals away from holding the record for most golds ever by a female Alpine skier, also four.

Shiffrin aims to have many chances to attempt those feats during the games as she plans on competing in three other Alpine events over the next two weeks.

She is still expected to compete in the super-G on Thursday, the downhill on Valentine’s Day and the combined on Feb. 17.

Shiffrin, a Colorado native, has been competing since she was 16 and quickly became one of the sport’s all-time greatest skiers with her record-setting performances. She is the most decorated Alpine skier in the world circuit, having won 11 World Championship medals, six gold.

At 18 years old she became the youngest slalom champion when she won a gold medal in the 2014 Sochi Games. Shiffrin won a gold medal in the giant slalom competition and a silver medal in the combined competition during the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.

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