Alpine skiing-Shiffrin’s composed GS reaction marks turnaround from Beijing disappointment

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 15 : Mikaela Shiffrin’s 11th-place finish in Sunday’s giant slalom at the Olympics carried none of the visible anguish that defined her Beijing 2022 campaign, the American presenting a calm perspective and renewed positivity despite already missing two medal chances in Cortina d’Ampezzo.

Four years ago, she left the Games shaken and searching for answers after a series of failures under crushing expectation.

On the Olimpia delle Tofane, by contrast, Shiffrin calmly framed the result through the quality of the racing and her own long road back to form rather than disappointment at the standings, having missed out on the podium by 0.30 of a second.

“That was like the greatest show of GS skiing that we've had in a really long time,” she said, emphasising the depth of the field on an Olympic stage “where people actually have eyes on the sport.”

With only a few tenths separating large portions of the leaderboard, Shiffrin did not dwell on missing the podium but pointed to the progress she has made since sustaining two injuries in 2024.

“When I think about where I was last year I was like, ‘I don't know, maybe I'll never race again.’ So here we are in a totally different position,” the 30-year-old said. “It shows that you can fight and you can bring back the hundredths.”

She described pushing with intensity on a hill whose unusual terrain — including features and jumps rarely seen in giant slalom — encouraged aggressive skiing while compressing the standings.

The tight clustering, she suggested, reflected the discipline’s depth.

“Everybody ahead of me and even some of the girls behind me, they're that close and that's how high the competition level is,” she said. “I think that's a beautiful show of our