Mikaela Shiffrin to race final 2022 Olympic event

As Alpine snowboarding’s combined gender crew occasion makes its second Winter Olympics look, Mikaela Shiffrin will compete for the sixth and closing time at these Video games.

The 26-year-old Shiffrin, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, completed ninth in ladies’s super-G and 18th within the downhill and skied out within the large slalom, slalom and the slalom portion of the mixed at these 2022 Winter Olympics. The disappointing efficiency has Shiffrin baffled but demonstrating some weighty perspective whereas competing in all six Olympic Alpine occasions.

“Why do I preserve coming again? Gosh is aware of it hurts greater than it feels good recently,” Shiffrin tweeted after the combined Thursday, calling out a number of the on-line abuse she has acquired since her first DNF. “I come again as a result of these first 9 turns right this moment have been spectacular, actually heaven. That’s the place I’m meant to be and I’m cussed as s—. So let’s go for some crew occasion coaching tomorrow, after which the ultimate race of this Olympics.”

pic.twitter.com/c5ZBN8aPtF

— Mikaela Shiffrin (@MikaelaShiffrin) February 17, 2022

Shiffrin will crew up with Paula Moltzan, Tommy Ford, Luke Winters, A.J. Damage and River Radamus.

“I’m actually excited as a result of it provides a very user-friendly, watchable occasion, to the Olympics,” Moltzan advised On Her Turf. “Ski racing isn’t the best [to follow] whereas the crew occasion is a head-to-head competitors the place you’ll be able to see who’s sooner.”

This knockout-format crew occasion, one in every of 9 mixed-gender occasions being staged (4 of that are new), debuted on the 2005 world championships in Bormio, Italy, and was added as a daily occasion within the World Cup Finals starting in 2006. Switzerland received the inaugural Olympic crew occasion in 2018 with a crew that featured slalom silver medalist Wendy Holdener, who adopted up with a slalom bronze and a silver within the mixed. Austria claimed silver and Norway took bronze to finish an all-European sweep.

What are the U.S. crew’s possibilities within the parallel slalom?

The U.S. faces stiff competitors from the standard suspects, with Shiffrin’s 2022 Olympic finale grabbing its share of the highlight.

Whereas Shiffrin doesn’t usually take part within the crew competitors, she hinted forward oh her first race that she was within the occasion this time.

Moltzan believes the U.S. is a medal contender with Shiffrin within the lineup.

“She’s nonetheless the perfect on this planet, and he or she’s gonna placed on a combat,” mentioned Moltzan, who’s making her Olympics debut and completed eighth within the slalom and twelfth within the large slalom. “I believe any athlete, while you’re paired head-to-head with them, goes to push more durable than ever, and I believe she will likely be completely nice with no expertise in parallel shortly. … I believe will probably be no drawback for her to step in and (be) the quickest competitor on the hill.”

In 2018, the U.S. crew didn’t have stars like Shiffrin, Lindsey Vonn or Ted Ligety within the lineup and misplaced within the first spherical to Thirteenth-ranked Nice Britain.

What international locations will contend within the Olympic Alpine combined crew occasion?

Switzerland is the defending Olympic champion, they usually adopted up their 2018 Olympic gold with a win on the 2019 world championships. They presently lead the person Alpine medal rely, with 5 gold, one silver and three bronze. Among the many Swiss medalists are Lara Intestine-Behrami (gold in super-G, bronze in GS in 2022), Holdener (bronze in slalom, silver in mixed) and Corinne Suter (gold in downhill).

Austria, silver medalist each on the 2018 Olympics and 2019 worlds, are second within the Alpine medal rely with six – two gold, three silver and one bronze. They’re led by 2021 ladies’s parallel large slalom and slalom world champion Katharina Liensberger, who was a part of the silver medal crew in 2018 and received silver within the ladies’s slalom.

The Norwegians enter because the reigning world champions, they usually have been additionally on the rostrum 4 years in the past with a bronze in PyeongChang. Sweden has medaled in 5 of the final six world championships (bronze in 2011, 2015, 2017; silver in 2013, 2021), whereas Germany received bronze on the 2021 worlds. Italy, bronze medalist at 2019 worlds, fields a robust crew together with three-time Olympic medalist Federica Brignone and world medalist Marta Bassino.

Why is the Alpine combined crew occasion particular?

The parallel slalom is exclusive in Alpine in that it affords the depth of a side-by-side duel with the emotion of a crew occasion. Add within the pleasure of it being the ultimate Alpine snowboarding race of the Video games, and it’s a recipe for “must-see” motion.

“I believe it’s a very enjoyable occasion,” U.S. skier Megan McJames said in 2018. “We’re nonetheless figuring out the kinks, however each racing somebody head-to-head and with the ability to practice and race with the boys is tremendous enjoyable.”

“The course is brief, so you must be extra exact than the slalom and GS; it’s a cool occasion that must be continued,” mentioned Michael Matt, who was a part of Austria’s silver in PyeongChang.

How does the Olympic Alpine combined crew parallel competitors work?

As in 2018, the crew competitors will function the 16 greatest groups seeded in a single-elimination bracket. The competitors kicks off with a spherical of 16, adopted by the quarterfinals, semifinals and the ultimate.

The knockout format permits groups to incorporate as much as six skiers, however simply 4 racers – two ladies, two males – compete in every spherical. Like different parallel slalom competitions, two opponents ski on the similar time on two an identical programs that sit side-by-side on the slope. The course makes use of GS gates, though they’re barely nearer collectively than a standard GS course. The nation with probably the most factors after the 4 races wins. If the groups tie at 2-2, the crew with the perfect combination time wins. If each skiers fall or miss a gate, the skier who progressed the farthest wins the purpose.

Whereas the occasion will likely be again on the Nationwide Alpine Ski Heart in Yanqing, athletes will compete on a distinct monitor than was used for any of the ladies’s or males’s earlier 5 occasions, transferring to a slope that options wider terrain with much less extreme pitches laterally.

“You may’t actually ski parallel on a very steep hill, as a result of it’s simply actually troublesome,” defined Moltzan. “So, it’s a fairly average hill with some built-in terrain, however it permits the occasion to be extra truthful from left to proper. This hill is mainly as easy as you get.”

The best way to watch the Alpine combined crew parallel slalom on the 2022 Winter Olympics:

The combined crew parallel slalom kicks off with the Spherical of 16 within the U.S. on Friday, Feb. 18, at 10 p.m. ET. The ultimate races of the day are anticipated to happen at 12:46 p.m. native time (11:46 p.m. ET).

On Her Turf editor Alex Azzi and NBC Olympics Analysis contributed to this report. 

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