BEIJING (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin threw her head again and laughed on the considered coming into the utmost Alpine snowboarding occasions potential on the Beijing Olympics — six — which she confirmed Tuesday she’s desiring to do.
She jokingly known as it “a very dangerous thought.”
After coming in 18th in the downhill, about 2 1/2 seconds behind gold medalist Corinne Suter of Switzerland, Shiffrin seemed forward to taking part within the mixed race on Thursday and the crew occasion that wraps up the Alpine schedule on Saturday.
Her Olympics to this point: She didn’t finish the giant slalom or the slalom and was ninth in the super-G, earlier than being the second-fastest American within the downhill, one spot behind Keely Cashman.
Shiffrin’s two profession Winter Video games golds have been within the slalom in 2014 and the enormous slalom in 2018; she additionally earned a silver within the mixed 4 years in the past and will contend once more. That self-discipline provides the occasions from one downhill run and one slalom run.
She is way much less skilled within the downhill, and he or she talked about Tuesday’s race as if it constituted a type of preparation, calling it “one other run underneath my belt for the approaching days.”
“It’s simply vital to have the ability to compartmentalize the downhill run — totally concentrate on the downhill run — after which begin the slalom portion of the day as if it’s a brand new day. And that’s actually arduous to do,” the 26-year-old from Colorado stated. “Mixed days are lengthy and the occasions couldn’t be extra reverse. It’s like doing two completely different sports activities in a single single day, in order that’s the most important problem: Attempt to execute a downhill after which simply let the downhill go and execute the slalom.”
When she is at her perfect, she is among the many most versatile ski racers there are. That’s a part of why she has completed as a lot as she has, together with three total World Cup titles.
However Shiffrin has not produced her perfect in Beijing.
“I imply, proper now, nothing is assured. And that’s the No. 1 lesson that I feel many individuals study on the Olympic Video games — that there isn’t any assure for something. Not for efficiency or outcomes,” she stated. “However I feel day-after-day that I get on this monitor and I’m in a position to take a run, and simply do a stable run high to backside, it provides me the possibility to be somewhat bit extra calm in my thoughts. I are inclined to assume method an excessive amount of and that makes it arduous to ski freely.”
