Colorado’s Mikaela Shiffrin is unquestionably the finest slalom skier on the planet, and already one the all-time greats at the age of 22. However, on Friday in PyeongChang, South Korea, the defending 2014 gold medalist from the Sochi games temporarily ceded her title to Sweden’s Frida Hansdotter, finishing 0.40 seconds behind the gold medal-winner and in fourth place.
Shiffrin’s failure to earn the gold wasn’t a shock — the 32-year-old Hansdotter had finished second 17 times on the World Cup tour before Friday’s performance — but failing to medal at all certainly was.
Shiffrin, who has admitted to nerves prior to races in the past, vomited shortly before taking her first run, and took a wider path than she usually does, finishing the first run in fourth place behind Holdener (48.89 seconds), and Sweden’s Hansdotter (+0.20) and Anna Swenn Larsson (0.40). Shiffrin found herself 0.48 seconds behind Holdener, and her slower second run kept her from passing either Holdener and Hansdotter, who edged past the Swiss skier by 0.05 seconds to claim the gold. 20-year-old Katharina Gallhuber’s second run of 48.83 seconds was the fastest of the entire event, launching the young Austrian past Shiffrin and onto the podium as the bronze medal winner.
However, Shiffrin, who claimed gold on Thursday in the giant slalom, will have the opportunity to win as many as three more — while she’s withdrawn from Saturday’s Super-G, she’ll have an opportunity to rest before competing again on Wednesday in the downhill, and next Friday in the Alpine Combined. It’s also possible that Shiffrin, who no doubt wants another crack at the slalom course, enters next Saturday’s team event; the Alpine skiing finale in the PyeongChang Games.
