Olympic favorite Mikaela Shiffrin may be forced to compete every day for the rest of the Olympics after repeated delays
- Mikaela Shiffrin may have to ski every day for the final 10 days of the 2018 Winter Olympics.
- The intense schedule is the result of repeated delays to the women's alpine skiing events due to inclement weather, as well as Shiffrin's particularly ambitious schedule, including five different events.
- Should Shiffrin succeed in making it through all five events, she'll have a shot at Olympic history.
Mikaela Shiffrin may become the busiest athlete at the Winter Olympics over the next ten days.
After multiple delays to the alpine skiing schedule due to windy conditions, events have been pushed tighter together, with the women due to compete or practice every day for the remainder of the Pyeongchang 2018 Games.
For specialists of a specific discipline, this isn't too much of an issue - aside from frustrations caused by an ever-changing schedule, many athletes will still be competing in just one or two events and thus be active on the mountain for only a few days.
But Shiffrin is aiming for a more ambitious goal this year - attempting to compete for gold in the slalom, giant slalom, super-G, downhill and alpine combined events - meaning the abridged schedule sets her up for one of the most grueling 10-day stretches imaginable.
Shiffrin has already proven her dominance in slalom, her best event, having taken gold at the Sochi 2014 games. But being dubbed a specialist didn't sit well with Shiffrin, and now she's attempting to become one of the most decorated skiers in Winter Olympic history.
"I've had a lot of people tell me, 'Yeah, sure, you're good at slalom, but wait till you get to the real events like downhill or super-G,'" she told the New York Times. "I don't like that."
Shiffrin's busy schedule is for a shot at history - no skier, man or woman, has ever won more than three gold medals at one Olympics, or four golds over the course of their Olympic career.
Should Shiffrin string together a stretch of her best runs, she could match or even break both of those records.