Mikaela Shiffrin comes down to earth, takes on her Olympic skiing struggles

BEIJING - The plan was to be aggressive. Go hard, go fast. And who is going to argue with star skier Mikaela Shiffrin about that strategy?

Shiffrin is a two-time gold medal winner at the Olympics who also has racked up 47 World Cup wins in the slalom, a record.

Hard-wired for success. Calibrated for award ceremonies. The face of various Olympics ad campaigns.

Signature performances were expected of the 26-year-old Colorado native at the Beijing Games.

But then, the Games began.

On Monday, her first run in the giant slalom lasted 11 seconds before she fell and missed a gate.

Stunning.

On Wednesday, her first run in the slalom lasted five seconds before she missed another gate, ending her run.

Completely unfathomable.

As much as we couldn't believe what we were witnessing, we weren't in her boots. Shiffrin went off to one side of the course at the National Alpine Skiing Center, sat in the snow for about 20 minutes. In anguish. Heartbroken.

When she finally left the course and took part in a series of interviews, it was clear that, mentally, she was struggling to cope with her failings.

She said she was going "full gas." That shrinks her room for error, but that's how she has owned the sport. She's not used to being shut out.

"It makes me second-guess the last 15 years," she said as the tears began to flow. "Everything I thought I knew about my own skiing and slalom and racing mentality. Just processing a lot for sure. And I feel really bad.

"There's a lot more going on today than my little situation, but I feel really bad for doing that."

She kept doing interviews, moving through the mixed zone as if it was cathartic for her to let the feelings flow. Later, she said she knew the disappointment would eventually go away and she would move on. She was also asked if she was feeling the absence of her father, who died following an accident at home in 2020. Shiffrin contemplated quitting then.

"It does give me perspective, but right now, I would really like to call him," she said. "So, that doesn't make it easier. He would probably tell me to get over it. But he's not here to say that, so on top of everything else I am pretty angry at him too."

Among the athletes reaching out to Shiffrin on social media on Wednesday was Simone Biles, the world-renowned gymnast who pulled out of events at last year's Summer Olympics when her mind and her body were in conflict.

Like Shiffrin, Biles made a sudden exit from a marquee Olympic event, stepping away after completing one rotation of the team competition.

Afterward, there was a gut-wrenching video of Biles working out in a private gym in Tokyo, trying to pull herself together so she could contribute to the Games. The video included a scene in which she tried to dismount from the uneven bars but missed her mark and fell, slamming her back on a mat as she groaned.

For the second consecutive Olympics, we have witnessed an all-time great have her talents inexplicably leave her. Shiffrin is going through her process, and her resiliency could be seen as early as Thursday night Minnesota time, if she chooses to compete in the Super-G as planned. Before the Games, she intended to ski all five individual events of the Alpine program. Biles eventually returned for the balance beam event of the Tokyo Games, winning a bronze medal.

"I think everyone's got a different coping mechanism," teammate Paula Moltzan said. "She's obviously a trained professional. She can handle any situation thrown at her and she's got a great support team including ourselves."

Moltzan, who was born in Prior Lake and attended Lakeville South for two years, finished eighth in the slalom with a cumulative time of 1 minute 48.18 seconds, tops for U.S. She was sixth after the first run but had a little trouble during the second run that cost her time. Nevertheless, she's celebrating her top-10 finish in her first Olympics, two days after she finished 12th in the giant slalom, also the top American.

"I'm really happy about being able to cross the finish line four times consecutively," Moltzan said, "It really, really means a lot to me."

We saw what happened when Shiffrin was unable to do that. Twice.

Now she is sifting through the wreckage of a disastrous Olympics. Somewhere in there, Shiffrin will find and press the reset button. She's had too much success for two bad days to redefine her career.