Mikaela Shiffrin Is Edged Out for a Medal in Slalom

Wind has delayed the start but the 22-year-old American is hoping to get her Pyeongchang campaign off the mark by retaining her 2014 slalom Olympic title.

Mikaela Shiffrin already had waited four years for this moment.

With her first triumph, Shiffrin passed Austria’s Annemarie Moser-Pröll for the most victories (42) before age 23, and with two more gold medals, Shiffrin would tie Croatia’s Janica Kostelic for the most all time among female alpine skiers.

Watch as five-time world champion Lindsey Jacobellis races for her first Olympic gold medal.

Kostelic and men’s great Kjetil Andre Aamodt of Norway both ended their careers with four golds.

“No, we didn’t try anything”, she said.

Coming into these Winter Games, there was talk about Shiffrin possibly chasing after not one or two but five medals.

“I have the slalom race tomorrow, so I have to refocus my energy, but to come to the Olympics after some tough races on the World Cup circuit and, you know, to charge like that…”

“It’s mentally challenging to get excited for a race and then have it canceled”.

Shiffrin, who was just 0.2 seconds behind the leader, Manuela Moelgg of Italy, finished ahead of silver medalist Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway and bronze medalist Frederica Brignone of Italy.

“That was unbelievable. That was a champion’s performance”, he told reporters. “It was an incredible feeling”.

“I definitely, when I was younger, struggled a little to understand my identity and who I wanted to be and I think having my family to be there throughout the whole process was so helpful”, said the 17-year-old, the youngest woman athlete to win a snow sports gold in Olympic history. I was able to eat my breakfast, which normally on race day I am not able to do. I think with this a lot of pressure from the outside can come. “I have a lot of events to do still, so I have to refocus my energy, but to come here after some tough races on the World Cup circuit and to charge like that, it’s insane”. Holdener has been a world champion in the combined, but can’t get past Shiffrin in the slalom.

Said Shiffrin’s coach, Mike Day: “It’s a very heavy load”.

“I’ve not been on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook for two weeks”.

“I love slalom but G-S (giant slalom) is something I have this love-hate relationship with”, said Shiffrin.

“I’m watching Korean TV so that’s easy because I don’t understand it”.

“I was really letting it go as much as I could in that second run”, she said. For the cross-country skiing Annika Taylor made her Olympic debut on Sunday in the Skiathlon and the 24-year-old is looking forward to an improved performance in Thursday’s 10km Free race. There are about 200 people who are infected, according to reports. They are the first US couple to do the maneuver in an Olympics, though the quad twist is becoming more common throughout the world.

And the payoff for that work is potentially two runs away.