Mikaela Shiffrin 'laying everything on the line' while Ester Ledecka eyes historic double-double at Winter Olympics

Mikaela Shiffrin has gone into fifth place with her Alpine combined downhill run with a “spectacular ski” in her attempt to salvage something from her turbulent 2022 Games. Meanwhile, Ester Ledecka is just 0.01 seconds off the leading pace of Austria’s Christine Scheyer as she looks for an unprecedented skiing-snowboard Olympic double-double. Ad/> The second half of the event – the slalom run – begins at 06:00 GMT.

Beijing 2022Shiffrin loans Goggia’s skis and ‘almost cries’ at note left by Italian25 MINUTES AGO Three-time Olympic medallist Shiffrin, who so far has two DNFs and one ninth-place finish to her name in Beijing, delivered one of the most “aggressive” runs of her career trails Scheyer by 0.56 seconds. She bore a look of determination as she sized up the slope at the top of the course before her downhill run and she delivered an explosive start. “You can see how much she wants this,” said four-time GB Olympian and Eurosport commentator Emma Carrick-Anderson.

/> Lead commentator Nick Fellows was taken aback by Shiffrin’s uncharacteristic aggression and felt she may have pushed too hard. “She is slightly over-aggressive, she needs to relax a little bit and let the skis do some of the work,” he said. “We know she’s done it all, but it’s gone wrong at these Games so far.