Mikaela Shiffrin considers racing Beijing 2022 downhill after 'positive' training run

Mikaela Shiffrin said she "would love" to compete in the alpine skiing women's downhill event at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.

The American, who has never competed in this discipline at the Olympics before, finished in ninth place after the first training run on Saturday (12 February).

“I haven't decided for sure. I mean, today gives me a little bit more positivity. I would love to race this downhill, so that's the plan,” the 26-year-old told reporters.

Shiffrin started with bib No. 32 and tackled 'The Rock' course in Yanqing for the second time in as many days after finishing ninth in Friday's Super G.

In a practice where several racers missed gates, the Team USA star clocked the second and third fastest time in two middle portions of the track, finishing 1:33 seconds off Swiss Priska Nufer's top mark overall.

"Everything felt really solid and I was able to move in and out of my tuck freely," she told NBC at the finish area. "The biggest thing is if over the next few days I can continue to improve on my tactics."

The women's downhill is scheduled on Tuesday (15 February) and the two-time Olympic champion explained why she hasn't make a decision yet.

"There are sections of this track that some of the more speed specialist skiers are going to excel at and improve already tomorrow. And I am not sure exactly where, how I can improve," she said.

A crucial factor is whether she'll be able to find speed over the course:

“If I can sort of keep up, then I would love to do the downhill. It’s just a really fun event.”

Two more downhill training sessions are scheduled for Sunday (13 February) and Monday (14).

Coming into Beijing, Shiffrin was targeting an ambitious plan to compete in all five individual events. That