Two-time Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin had yet one more stunning disappointment on the Beijing Olympics, bowing out early from her second straight-race on Wednesday.
Shiffrin missed the fourth gate within the slalom occasion, disqualifying her from the race. After the error, the 26-year-old skied off to the aspect of the course and sat down within the snow for an prolonged time period.
"I used to be pushing out of the beginning. I had full intentions of snowboarding as laborious as I may," she mentioned following the race. "I slipped up a bit bit on one flip and I simply did not give myself room to make any form of error like that. I used to be planning to go on essentially the most aggressive line, essentially the most difficult line to ski."
Talking on digital camera after the race, the 26-year-old mentioned she was nonetheless processing "just about all the things."
"Makes me second guess the final 15 years," she mentioned. "Every little thing I believed I knew about my very own snowboarding and slalom and racing mentality. Simply processing quite a bit."
Announcers on NBC pulled no punches with their preliminary shock: "Her nightmare in Beijing continues."
"It ended earlier than it even began," one mentioned, with one other calling it "past stunning."
"You wait 4 years and your dream might be over inside seconds."
On Monday, Shiffrin additionally crashed out early in her first occasion, the large slalom.
"I will not ever recover from this," Shiffrin mentioned after the primary mistake. "I've by no means gotten over any."
The embellished Shiffrin owns three Olympic medals — together with a pair of golds — three World Cup total titles and 6 world championships. She nonetheless has three occasions to go in Beijing, and another Olympic gold medal would give her essentially the most for any American alpine skier.