Mikaela Shiffrin wins gold in women’s giant slalom

Mikaela Shiffrin opened her 2018 Olympics ledger with a gold in the giant slalom. Here’s how the action played out at Yongpyong Alpine Centre.

The women finally got a chance to take to the ski hill. The giant slalom had originally been scheduled as the opening event of the women’s alpine skiing calendar. It ended up working out that way in the end despite a multi-day delay in the start.

At first it appeared that slalom would become the opening event for the women, but a delay for those skiers led to giant slalom retaking its spot as the starting discipline for the Pyeongchang Games. It was finally a beautiful day at Yongpyong Alpine Centre. The wind finally died down enough to get the giant slalom going. The wait was certainly worth it for fans of alpine skiing.

Mikaela Shiffrin, the American star who was projected to win multiple medals, did not disappoint, claiming the top step in the giant slalom to set herself up for a shot at multiple gold medals.

MEDAL RESULT | Alpine Skiing Women's Giant Slalom

Mikaela Shiffrin

Ragnhild Mowinckel

Federica Brignone

Shiffrin entered the second of two runs in the giant slalom with the second-best time. Sitting behind Manuela Moelgg of Italy, Shiffrin put in a blistering run, finishing fourth in the run to open a 0.39-second advantage with her combined time. With only Moelgg left to race after her, the American was assured of at least silver.

Nothing went right for the Italian in the second run, though, as Moelgg slipped off the podium. Instead, Norway captured another medal at these Olympics. Ragnhild Mowinckel, currently fifth in the FIS World Cup standings, put in a solid second run to claim silver. Mowinckel finished just seven-hundredths of a second ahead of another Italian, Federica Brignone.

Nobody, though, was able to put together a pair of runs to rival Shiffrin. The 22-year-old American star could become the first female skier to win two gold medals in a single Winter Olympics since Germany’s Maria Riesch won the slalom and the alpine combined in Vancouver eight years ago.

Next: Svindal claims men's downhill gold for Norway

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