Mikaela Shiffrin’s unexpectedly lengthy and torturous await her first medal of the Beijing Olympics has stretched practically two weeks.
One other delay solely appears becoming.
Shiffrin’s final hope at salvaging positivity in these video games through the blended group parallel slalom was rescued from severe doubt after robust winds postponed the occasion Saturday afternoon on the Nationwide Alpine Snowboarding Heart within the Yanqing zone close to Beijing.
It regarded as if the occasion would possibly turn into simply the second to be canceled within the historical past of the Winter Olympics due to the time crunch earlier than the closing ceremony, however it was rescheduled for 8 p.m. Japanese Saturday night time (9 a.m. Sunday native time). If the occasion does happen, Shiffrin will no less than turn into the second lady to compete in all six Alpine snowboarding occasions in the identical Olympics.
Shiffrin’s greatest end in her 5 particular person races was ninth. If that wasn’t gorgeous sufficient, she failed to complete three occasions — large slalom, slalom and Alpine mixed — that are three of her greatest occasions, as confirmed by the 2 gold medals and a silver she gained in previous Olympics, courting to when she was an 18-year-old newcomer within the 2014 Sochi Video games.
In latest days, probably the most achieved skier of all time in any Alpine self-discipline stated she felt like a “joke” and puzzled aloud “if anyone has failed that onerous, with so many alternatives, perhaps within the historical past of the Olympics.” Shiffrin additionally cracked that she “ought to in all probability simply give up” earlier than the group occasion in order to not endure any extra hits, however she opted to affix the Individuals for the single-elimination competitors in contrast to in 2018.
Observe all of the 2022 Olympics motion
- Day by day up to date medal counts, outcomes, schedule, athlete bios and extra
- American-born Eileen Gu wins historic halfpipe gold for China
- Full TV information to the 2022 Olympics
- Russia defends Kamila Valieva amid doping controversy
As for the blended group parallel slalom, it’s arrange just like the NCAA basketball Match, and is the one snowboarding race made up of groups and the one one combining women and men. Every country-against-country matchup contains 4 head-to-head races between skiers of the identical gender. To advance, a group should both win no less than three races or have the bottom mixed time if a tiebreaker is required.
The sixth-seeded United States group — an extended shot for a medal — can be paired in opposition to No. 11 Slovakia within the first spherical.
Wind gusts as much as 25 miles per hour and temperatures effectively under zero delayed the occasion for 2 hours earlier than it was postponed. Because the final Olympics, Shiffrin had not completed as soon as in 62 races. She is the world record-holder with 47 slalom snowboarding titles.
Post a Comment