Medal hope for the United States at the Beijing 2022 Games, US skier and two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin, 26, will leave China without stepping onto the podium.
This Wednesday (9), the athlete missed a gate at the beginning of the women’s slalom event and was eliminated. Last Monday (7), she had also missed a gate at the beginning of the giant slalom course and ended up disqualified.
“Oh my God!” Shiffrin said when he made the mistake on Wednesday. The American then sat down in the snow and remained with her head down for a few seconds, before getting up and leaving the race site.
Gold medalist in the slalom in Sochi-2014 and in the giant slalom in PyeongChang-2018, she received support on social media from fellow gymnast Simone Biles.
A favorite at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Biles became one of the symbols of the Games last year as she left artistic gymnastics to take care of her mental health. In Japan, even dealing with these issues, she still won a silver for teams and a bronze on the beam.
Olympic champion in downhill in Vancouver-2010, American Lindsey Vonn, who commented on the race for the NBC channel, also expressed support for Shiffrin.
“I’m devastated for Mikaela Shiffrin, but that doesn’t erase her career and what she can and will achieve by moving forward. Keep your head up,” the former athlete posted on social media.
After five Olympics, veteran wins her 1st gold
If on the one hand the elimination of Mikaela Shiffrin represented a frustration for the United States, on the other the country was able to celebrate the triumph of snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis after a long wait for a medal in the Olympics.
The 36-year-old American, five-time world champion and eight-time X Games champion, had never won an Olympic gold medal. Until this Wednesday, in the snowboard cross, she crossed the finish line in first to climb to the highest place on the podium.
This is her fifth Winter Olympic Games, a competition she has been competing in consecutively since Turin-2006.
Jacobellis left behind the French Chloe Trespeuch, who took the silver (she also has a bronze, won in Sochi-2014), and the Canadian Meryeta Odine.
“It was never about redemption,” the champion told the Games’ official channel. “I didn’t have that in mind when I came here, I just wanted to have fun on my fifth Olympic appearance. My thoughts were, ‘It’s either going to happen or not’ and ‘It could be my day or it could be other girls’ day.’ , it just so happened that all the stars lined up for me, so it was my day.”​
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