U.S. skier Mikaela Shiffrin doesn't finish slalom leg of Alpine combined at Beijing Olympics

Mikaela Shiffrin entered the slalom portion of the combined race in fifth place after an impressive downhill run and looking to reverse her Olympic woes with a medal in her last individual race of the 2022 Beijing Games.

But it wasn't to be.

The 26-year-old American crashed out of the race Thursday and recorded her third «Did Not Finish» in Beijing. She appeared to be fighting tears on the side of the course.

Shiffrin was candid in an interview with NBC before the slalom run about how she was feeling entering what has long been considered her signature event.

«I'm not feeling totally confident with the slalom,» Shiffrin said. «I mean, I have a recurring image of myself skiing out on the fifth gate again, so I'm just going to do my best.»

But she was unable to get past her nerves or lingering fears.

Shiffrin will have one last chance to earn an Olympic medal in Beijing on Saturday in the mixed team parallel slalom competition. She will become just the second woman in history to compete in all six alpine events in the Olympics, joining her rival Petra Vlhova, who did so in 2018, the first year of the team event.