American Olympic Skier Extends Racing Bad Luck

American skier¹ Mikaela Shiffrin again did not finish her race at the Beijing Winter Olympic Games Wednesday.

Shiffrin is one of the best female² skiers in the world. She arrived at the Olympics hoping to win several medals.

When asked what happened, Shiffrin said, "I've never been in this position before." With tears on her face, she added, "and I don't know how to handle it."

The 26-year-old American skier had won gold medals in the slalom race at the 2014 Sochi Games and the giant slalom at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. Shiffrin skied off course Wednesday and did not finish either in Beijing.

Shiffrin arrived in Beijing with plans to enter all five individual skiing events. These include the downhill, super-G, and combined. Another gold medal would make her only the second woman to win at least one from Alpine³ skiing at three Olympics.

In Wednesday's slalom event, Shiffrin lost control just four seconds and four gates from the start. She then took off her skis, sat down, and rested her head on her arms atop her knees.

Pressure to win

Other racers said the top of the slalom course where Shiffrin went off was not icy or difficult. Katharina Liensberger of Austria — who took the silver behind Wednesday's gold medalist Petra Vlhova of Slovakia — called it "a really easy course."

Shiffrin has won 47 World Cup events in slalom - more than any skier has won in any individual event. She explained that maybe she was trying to attack too much. "I was pushing," she said, "and maybe it was past my limit."

She did not think the pressure to win was the issue. "My entire career has taught me to trust in my skiing if it's good skiing and that's all that I have to rely on...Of course, the pressure is high, but that didn't feel like the biggest issue today,"

Before the Olympics, Shiffrin had said that she could understand why top athletes shared their feelings about pressure and high expectations. Competitors like gymnast Simone Biles and swimmer Caeleb Dressel have done that.

Biles, considered the greatest gymnast of all time, withdrew⁴ from her event at the Tokyo Games. Biles said, "So, we have to protect our mind and our body, rather than just go out there and do what the world wants us to do."

Dressel won five swimming events in Tokyo. But he said after the races, "so much pressure in one moment; your whole life boils down to a moment."

And Shiffrin has also been open about losing her father, Jeff, who died in February 2020. Earlier in the week, she said "Right now, I would really like to call him, so that doesn't make it easier." Then, with a laugh, she continued: "And he would probably tell me to just get over it."

Shiffrin's next chance to compete could come Friday in the super-G. But she might not enter the event, saying, "It would be a pleasure to ski. But I also have some teammates who are really fast..."

She has not competed in a super-G event at an Olympics, but she won the event at the 2019 world championships.

Words in This Story

handle –v. to do the work that is required

career – n. a job or profession that someone does for a long time

rely on –v. to trust or believe in something will happen

boil down to –v. (phrasal) to have (something) as the main part or the most important idea

1 skier   

n.滑雪运动员

参考例句：

• She is a skier who is unafraid of danger.她是一名敢于冒险的滑雪者。
• The skier skimmed across the snow.滑雪者飞快地滑过雪地。

2 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。

3 alpine   

adj.高山的；n.高山植物

参考例句：

• Alpine flowers are abundant there.那里有很多高山地带的花。
• Its main attractions are alpine lakes and waterfalls .它以高山湖泊和瀑布群为主要特色。

4 withdrew   

v.取[收]回( withdraw的过去式 )；（使）撤退[出]；提；收回

参考例句：

• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She quickly withdrew her hand from the hot iron. 她很快地将手从火烫的熨斗上缩了回来。 来自《简明英汉词典》