Smiling Mikaela Shiffrin misses medal after solid Olympic Super G at Beijing 2022

Alpine skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin had a little smile on her face after finishing 0.79 seconds behind leader Lara Gut-Behrami in the women's super G event at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

The American produced a clean run on Friday (11 Fwbruary), lost some speed in the middle section, but managed to complete her first race at this Olympics after failing to finish her first two events in giant slalom and slalom.

"I’ve had a lot of support over the last 48 hours and I have to thank everyone for that," the 26-year-old had posted on Twitter before the race.

Then she added: "Today is Super G, and Super G is fun. I can’t express how grateful I am to have the opportunity to refocus on a new race, in the sport that I love so much. Onward."

Shiffrin had planned to compete in all five individual events at Beijing 2022 and there are still two races left: the downhill (15 Feb) and the alpine combined (17 Feb).

She is also keen on entering the team event scheduled for Saturday 19 February.

Four years ago in PyeongChang, the six-time world champion didn't compete in the downhill and Super G, after bad weather had caused a schedule change.

The women's downhill will take place on Tuesday 15 February at 11:00 local time (4:00 CET, 19:00 PST on Thursday), with the mandatory practice runs starting on Saturday (12 February).