Mikaela Shiffrin got back on her skis Friday for an event she had never before entered at the Winter Olympics, finishing ninth in the women’s super-G.
It was the first time Shiffrin completed a run at the 2022 Winter Olympics after skiing out in her two best events, the giant slalom and the slalom.
Shiffrin started the day with a tweet, writing, “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.” She seemed to embody that attitude during the race, skiing relaxed – even if not fast enough to contend for the podium.
At the finish area, she was all smiles, then enthusiastically radioed course intel up to her three American teammates who were waiting for their turns down the course.
While Shiffrin was always an outside medal contender in super-G – she hadn’t raced or trained in the event for over nine weeks prior to arriving in Beijing – her participation kept alive the chance that she could compete in all five individual events at the Winter Olympics.