Mikaela Shiffrin fell out of the slalom trial run at the Beijing Olympics.- It was Shiffrin's second straight Did Not Finish, as she also fell in the giant slalom.
A stunning scene took place at the Beijing Olympics as U.S. alpine
After falling in the giant slalom trial on Monday in Beijing, Shiffrin skied out just seconds into her run in the slalom.
With a second straight Did Not Finish, Shiffrin ambled off the course and sat in the snow in disbelief for several minutes.
Shiffrin was still on the slope but out of the way of other skiers. She remained there through several more runs as another member came over and consoled her.
The NBC commentators called it "one of the most shocking moments" in alpine skiing history at the Olympics.
On NBC, Lindsey Vonn explained that Shiffrin was skiing too straight, and she went off course. She had no room to rebound.
"Mikaela came out charging, but she didn't have the right tactics," Vonn said. "She was going much too straight. She needed to give herself more direction. As you can see, her skis were pointing too far down the hill, whereas she needed to be coming across the hill more. And therefore, at the next gate, she was way too far below line and had no chance of coming back."
Expectations were high for Shiffrin, widely considered the greatest alpine skier in the world. She has 73 World Cup victories and is a three-time World Cup champion.
Even Vonn — who said on NBC after Shiffrin skied out of the slalom that this wouldn't define Shiffrin — had heaped pressure on her before the games.
"I'm really expecting her to get a medal in every event that she competes in because she absolutely has the capability of doing that, and that's a compliment," Vonn told Reuters in January.
After falling in the giant slalom, Shiffrin said dwelling on it would be "wasting energy." She has the super-G on Thursday.