All in all, Mikaela Shiffrin's Snow Games have so far lasted around 30 seconds.
The time to get out from the top of the route in the first round of the giant, Monday, then to straddle after five small gates in slalom, this Wednesday.
Metronome of alpine skiing, from the height of her 73 World Cup victories, the American has never been used to so many outings.
Under the eye of the American cameras, permanently trained on her during these games, she broke down, her head in her hands, in the finish area.
It's over for Mikaela Shiffrin!!
đš Big surprise on the slalom: the American, big favorite, is eliminated in the first round!
#Beijing2022 #HomeOfOlympics pic.twitter.com/Z6AWwSsTJM
â Eurosport France (@Eurosport_FR) February 9, 2022
âI really wanted to go all out⊠It makes me question these last 15 years, everything I thought I knew about my skiing, my slalom, my running mentalityâ, she explained, fatalistic.
To find the trace of a zero point from Shiffrin on two technical events in a row, we have to go back to December 2011. The native of Colorado was then only 16 years old and not the slightest victory with the professionals.
Already affected after her failure on giant on Monday, she then admitted that she had not "overcome" her preparation, complicated by a back injury and the Covid.
"I'm not going to start crying because I'm going to waste energy," she said.
My best chance for the next races is to refocus, to move forward.
This time, after her failure in her favorite discipline, she opened the floodgates.
A displayed sensitivity
Shiffrin's displayed sensitivity is no longer surprising.
The untimely death of her father Jeff in an accident in February 2020 caused her to open up and take a break of several weeks as she dominated the season.
âYou don't recover from that in a year or a year and a half, confided before the Games Mike Day, one of his coaches.
I think she is far from done with her grief and recovery.
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When the slalom arrived, the subject inevitably came back to the surface.
âI would like to be able to call my father, so that doesn't make things any easier,â confided the champion herself.
He would probably tell me to move on, but he's not here to say it, so I'm pretty mad at him (laughs).
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Supporting Biles this summer
The American no longer hesitates to talk about her mental health and to support all athletes who share their discomfort.
Last summer, she had come to the defense of Simone Biles when the gymnast withdrew from several Olympic events and openly spoke of her âdemonsâ to the press.
More recently, she admitted that her morale was also affected âby the Covid-19 pandemic and the frustration of seeing people not understanding its seriousness.
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A winning machine from a very young age, the one who has been medalist eleven times at the Worlds may have had her eyes bigger than her stomach in Beijing, where she intended to line up in each individual event, with a hope of medal in all disciplines.
Now his two main podium opportunities are gone.
His two main chances gone
âMy skiing has been very solid throughout my career, and I've always had confidence in my ability to perform,â she explained a little later in the morning.
Usually, finishing my shopping has never been a problem, I'm in a situation that I've never really known.
This hurts, I don't really know what happened, but in 24 hours everyone will be on to something else.
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"The Olympics aren't over, but it's true that the slalom and the giant were my two best chances," she admitted lucidly.
So that's a lot of work for nothing.
I mustn't be too hard on myself, but in the end it's five gates in giant, and five in slalom.
âDuring her next event, the super-G, on Friday, she will want to do better and could easily play for a medal, if she finds her skiing... and a smile.
