Miakaela Shiffrin’ s Winter Olympics nightmare continued on Thursday, as the American star crashed out for the third time after chasing five gold medals at the beginning of the Games.
Shiffrin was a heavily-tipped favourite, especially in the combined slalom, however once again things did not go her way.
The American found herself well placed, finishing fifth fastest in the downhill leg of the event.
While this left her 0.56 off the lead, Shiffrin was more than capable of making up the time if she performed to her usual best.
Ahead of her return to the event, she even revealed that she felt she was doing ‘pretty well’ and just had to ‘stay calm’ in order to win the race.
The American said: “I have to overcome the image that I am going to ski out on the fifth gate.
“I am just trying to stay calm because I think I was doing pretty well with that this morning. Stay calm and have a good run at slalom.”
However, this wouldn’t be the case for the two-time gold medalist, as she missed out a gate during the combined slalom, before skiing off the course and ending another hope of gold.
Remarkably, this is the third time the Shiffrin has crashed out in Beijing, after doing the exact same in two of her more favoured events, the giant slalom and the slalom.
The combined on Thursday was the 26-year-old’s final chance at an individual gold medal, with her next outing coming in the team event on Saturday.
Despite the disappointment in Beijing, the American is clearly looking to remain upbeat as she revealed after her third race that there still had been some ‘positives’ whilst competing.
Can Shiffrin put her disappointment behind to win gold in the team event? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
She commented: “I wasn’t holding back, and I wasn’t pushing too hard, and it still didn’t work. That’s just annoying. That’s just what it is.
"On the race, in the moment when it counts, then I didn’t make it to the finish. And that’s never happened in my entire career.
“So, I don’t understand it, but there was so much positive that’s happened in the last couple of weeks.”
