Olympics Women’s Slalom results: Mikaela Shiffrin finishes off the podium
By Zach Bigalke
After winning the giant slalom, Mikaela Shiffrin had a shot at a second gold medal, but stumbled in her best event and finished off the podium in the slalom.
It wasn’t supposed to happen this way. After winning the giant slalom, Mikaela Shiffrin looked ready to live up to her promise as the next great Alpine skier for the United States. Shiffrin captured gold in the slalom as an 18-year-old four years ago in Sochi.
After dominating the FIS calendar in the event, Shiffrin seemed poised to dominate these Olympics. By winning the giant slalom, Shiffrin had a shot to become the first woman to win two Alpine skiing gold medals in a single Olympics since Maria Riesch did it in Vancouver eight years ago.
Instead, Shiffrin was outpaced by two of her regular nemeses on the FIS World Cup circuit and a surprise finisher. In the process, not only did Shiffrin miss out on gold but she also missed out on the podium altogether.
MEDAL RESULT | Alpine Skiing Women's Slalom
Frida Hansdotter
Wendy Holdener
Katharina Gallhuber
Shiffrin went 27th out of the first 30 skiers. She was unable to pass 21-year-old breakout star Katharina Gallhuber, who put in the best single-run time of any skier on her second run to take the lead as the 22nd skier. Her lead held until the last two women hit the hill.
Frida Hansdotter, currently third in the FIS World Cup standings, went second-to-last and put up the second-fastest time of the second runs behind only Gallhuber. With the second-fastest time in both runs, Hansdotter claimed the top spot with only one skier to go.
Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener is fourth in the World Cup standings, so her spot atop the standings out of the first run was not that surprising. She was unable to catch Hansdotter for the gold but held on easily for the silver ahead of Gallhuber.
Shiffrin will likely come back for the rest of the World Cup calendar and dominate after this defeat. But her fall from the podium is a reminder of how few chances a top skier can really get at glory. After all, the Olympics are the biggest stage and come but once every four years. Shiffrin will now have to wait for Beijing in 2022 to her shot at redemption in what is usually her best event.
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