Mikaela Shiffrin is not off to a great start at the Winter Olympics. The two-time Olympic gold medalist shockingly failed to qualify for the women’s slalom final after falling just seconds into Tuesday’s qualifying race. For the 26-year-old star, it is the exact same outcome she faced just two days prior in the giant slalom qualifiers.
After Tuesday’s fall, Shiffrin –- who won gold in the slalom at the Sochi Olympics –- sat solemnly with her head bowed in one of the 2022 Olympics’ most heartbreaking moments thus far.
When Shiffrin fell in Sunday’s giant slalom qualifiers, it erased the possibility of her winning the event in consecutive Olympics. The Colorado native still has a chance at repeating in the alpine combined, an event in which she earned silver at during the Pyeongchang Games.
With Shiffrin planning to compete in all five individual events at Yanqing Alpine Skiing Center at these Beijing Games, she can still become the first American alpine ski racer to win three Olympic golds. Her margin for error, however, is diminishing.
Shiffrin will likely return to action on Friday for the super-G, an event she won at the 2019 world championship but has yet to try at the Olympic level.
