Mikaela Shiffrin wanted to call her late father after her crushing disappointments at the 2022 Olympic Games

• Mikaela Shiffrin crashed out of her second successive event at the Winter Olympics this week.
• It seemed like all she wanted to do after another Beijing disappointment was speak to her late dad.

Superstar American athlete Mikaela Shiffrin wanted to call her late father after her crushing disappointments at the Olympic Games in Beijing.

A highly-decorated skier, Shiffrin has featured prominently at three Olympic cycles, is a six-time world champion in the slalom and super-G events, and has won more World Cup slalom races than anybody else in history.

Though she has won two Olympic golds before — in slalom at the 2014 Games and giant slalom in 2018 — she struggled to get anywhere close to claiming a third title in 2022.

Shiffrin was in tears when she failed to finish in her second successive event in Yanqing this week.

"I feel that I have to question a lot now," she said at the time, seemingly contemplating her place at the highest echelon of her sport.

Speaking later to CNN, it seemed like all she wanted to do was hear the voice of her dad Jeff, who died aged 65 in 2020 following a severe head injury in an accident at the family's Colorado home.

This Olympics is the first in which Shiffrin has been without Jeff, who could often be seen amongst the press pack, happily taking photos of his daughter's triumphs.

"It does give me perspective but right now, I would really like to call him," Shiffrin said Wednesday, according to CNN.

"So, that doesn't make it easier. He would probably tell me to get over it, but he's not here to say that, so on top of everything else I am pretty angry at him too.

"Skiing is something that my entire family shares. And my dad, he loved skiing, he loved it ... I found being on the mountains was like being close to him."

Shiffrin returns to the slopes Thursday for the women's super-g event. The women's downhill, and combined downhill events, take place Monday, February 14, and February 16. The women's combined slalom will be held on February 17.

The United States is 10th in the Winter Olympics medal table with one gold, five silver medals, and one bronze.

Germany is the current medal leader with an eight medal haul that includes five golds and three silvers.