Mikaela Shiffrin said her second straight DNF at the Olympics has made her second guess 'everything I thought I knew about my own skiing'
- Mikaela Shiffrin missed a gate in the women's slalom at Beijing 2022.
- It's the second straight event that Shiffrin recorded a DNF, despite dominating in the event throughout her career.
Mikaela Shiffrin was left heartbroken and speechless after recording her second "did not finish," or DNF, of the Winter Olympics.
After falling in her first run of the giant slalom on Monday in Beijing, Shiffrin skied out just seconds into her run in the slalom on Tuesday night.
Shiffrin's second DNF was an even bigger shock than her first, as it came in an event that she has dominated throughout her career. In the final World Cup race before the Olympics in January, Shiffrin won for the 47th time in her career, breaking the record for most World Cup victories in a single discipline.
Speaking with NBC's Todd Lewis after her slalom run, Shiffrin was at a loss for words and fighting back tears.
"I think I just slipped," Shiffrin said. "I had every intention to go full gas. And there wasn't really space in the course to, I don't know, slip, not even a little. I didn't give myself space for that. In my experience that mentality has brought my best skiing. And today I went out on the fifth gate."
"Pretty much everything makes me second guess the last 15 years. Everything I thought I knew about my own skiing and slalom and racing mentality. Just processing a lot for sure. And I feel really bad. There's a lot more going on today besides my little situation, but I feel really bad for doing that."
After Shiffrin's fall, fellow skiing legend Lindsey Vonn offered her words of support and encouragement from the NBC broadcast studio.
"Unfortunately, that is ski racing," Vonn said. "As disappointing as this is for Mikaela, she was risking it all. She was pushing herself to the limit. Does she make the correct tactical choices? Maybe not. But this does not take away from her historic career. How many medals she's got in the past, how many world championship medals she's got in the past, how many World Cup wins she's got."
While Shiffrin's first two events at the Olympics have not gone to plan, she still has three events left that she could potentially contend in — the Super G, Downhill, and Combined.