Mikaela Shiffrin will take part in the downhill on Tuesday and plans to fulfill her goal of starting in every alpine race at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
Mikaela Shiffrin, who failed to finish her first two races in China – the giant slalom and slalom, gave her 17th time in today’s practice in the downhill. After the first training session on Saturday, she said she would decide at the last minute whether to start, where she is not among the favorites.
“Yes”, said Mikaela Shiffrin when asked if she would take part in the downhill race. “Well, I guess coaches could always say: Maybe it’s not worth it, I don’t know, maybe it’s better to have a day off”, added the American. “But yesterday we had a very unplanned recovery day, which means I had a day off in about 17 days and it wasn’t planned”, said also Mikaela Shiffrin.
Sunday’s downhill training was canceled after heavy snowfall made the track too dangerous to train.
“It gave me too much time to think. But I have to be able to visualize it as many times as possible because it’s the only practice in my driving – virtual practice. It was good to rest and recover a little. Training and training your muscles. Overall, it will be really great to be able to compete. One of my biggest goals to come here was to start at every race. I think at least this dream can still be alive”, said Mikaela Shiffrin.
Petra Vlhova of Slovakia, who won the Olympic slalom title, withdrew from the Games on Sunday and will miss the last individual competition, the alpine combination.
“I think there are a few girls who have really good chances in the combination because they have a solid downhill and a solid slalom. Petra was one of them, that’s for sure”, added Mikaela Shiffrin.
