While it isn’t the discipline she excels in the most, Team USA skier Mikaela Shiffrin was expected to be within shouting distance for a medal in the women’s giant slalom at Cortina d’Ampezzo on Sunday afternoon.
Instead, the most decorated skier of all time was passed over many times in what proved to be one of the closest races of these Winter Olympics.
Shiffrin finished eleventh in the giant slalom, but it was by no means a blowout as she came just 0.3 seconds off the podium.
The event was so tight that Swedish skier Sara Hector and Norwegian Thea Louise Stjernesund finished tied for silver with a combined time of 2:14.12.
Italian Federica Brignone won on home snow to take her second gold medal of these games.
Hector turned in the best performance of the top-four skiers in the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup standings for the giant slalom.
While Shiffrin (fourth in the standings) came 11th, Austria’s Julia Scheib (first in the standings) came fifth and Switzerland’s Camille Rast (second) finished behind Shiffrin in 12th.
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American skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin finished 0.3 seconds off the podium in the giant slalom
While giant slalom isn’t her best event, Shiffrin was expected to be within shouting distance of a medal – considering she currently ranks No. 4 in the world in this discipline in the World Cup
In what proved to be an extremely competitive race, Shiffrin’s time was good for 11th place
