Mikaela Shiffrin Skiis Out in Slalom Again - Someone please explain what's going on?

Calling what I see for what it is, buddy. Why so defensive, why the strong personal language in response? Telling.

Richardson lost a parent right before the OT, yet her chosen coping mechanism wasn't good enough for the mainstream that was already judging her for not conforming to "American values." Richardson chose to deal with losing a parent no more than Shiffrin did. Yet here we are.

What is telling is that an insignificant loser such as yourself is judging others.

You could live 1000 years and not accomplish what Richardson, Biles, or Shiffrin could accomplish in one day.

That is a good point. And it matters if you want to be considered a great skier or the best ever skier. 

She is undoubtedly great. After this olympics, it is a hard argument to make for best ever. 

I think it's fair to compare Shiffrin to Biles but Richardson? Are you implying that if Shiffrin chose to smoke pot rather than ski badly she would have done better (assuming she didn't get popped on a drug test)?

Back to Shiffrin/Biles comparison, I was under the impression that the whole World rallied behind Biles when she got the twisties.

The problem I have with virtue signalers like yourself is that there can be 90% support for a cause/bipoc athlete but it's the 10% where you all are like, "See, I knew it! Racism, phobias, meanness!"

There is no such thing as 100% consensus, you're going to have to cut some people out of your shame parade if you want to achieve world domination.

Biles quit in the middle of competition. Schiffrin tried to fight her way through the competition despite being out of sorts

The last 4 or 5 Winter games use at least 65% artificial snow. 2018 was 80% so she's used to performing on artificial courses. I think she just had a tough games and one bad performance can really mess with an athlete mentally thus affecting subsequent performances. She's amazing and I hope she recovers

You're inferring all sorts of weird things to push your narrative. I can't even guess why.

You're an idiot. She was literally falling out of the air. The commentators noticed it before she even withdrew. No athlete professional or otherwise should continue in that condition. I'm not sure what's not clicking for you

It just indicates how important the mental aspect of sport is at the highest level, especially where great skill is required.

The gynmast GOAT can't do flips. Steph Curry can't hit 3 pointers. Now the best female skier keeps missing gates. As great as these athletes are they fallible like the rest of us.

I'm inferring because I didn't understand what you were trying to say.

Let me narrow it down a bit for you, what did you mean by stating; "Richardson chose to deal with losing a parent no more than Shiffrin did."? Richardson chose to deal with the loss by smoking a banned substance. What did Shiffrin choose, to ski badly?

Or should that have read; "Richardson didn't choose to deal with losing a parent no more than Shiffrin did?" That would make more sense and I can see how that would invite comparisons.

Maybe we were both caught up with itchy trigger fingers.

Skiing is hard. People fall. Happens to the best of them.

Of DQ or DNF then no drug test? 

Actually, she let someone else take her place, who was in better form. If she didn’t do that, likely you would say, “she’s so selfish, she had capable teammates but she insisted on trying to continue when it was clear she wasn’t going to help the team!”

Shiffrin has struggled on and off throughout her career with self doubt and anxiety and it’s amazing that for the most part she’s overcome these emotions and is clearly one of the greatest of all time.   She spoke of how she’s dreaded these Olympics, rather than look forward to them.  Her dad was a major part of her support system and his untimely death certainly has contributed to her vulnerability.   She’s been amazingly brave and forthcoming in light of her “failures” these Olympics and I think her behavior has been impressive and exemplary.   Even great champions struggle and are human.  Honestly, I think she’s as much or more of a role model in defeat as she is when she’s wracking up her many wins.  

All it takes is a micro-shift of the ankle to go off course. Something might be slightly off with her gear: bindings, boot laces, socks. At the speeds they are going it doesn't take much.

It's ultimately a mental hurdle for Shiffrin; she's proven herself, for years, to be capable of skiing physically and technically at a level beyond her peers. The racing conditions haven't been perfect, but that's far from abnormal for a typical World Cup racer.

#1 is not a problem. Totally wrong.  Ski racers prefer hard, conditioned courses with near-icy, predictable surfaces that are fast and easy to tune/wax for. 

However, there are a number of factors with the course that have affected the Alpine events this year:

- World Cup athletes were supposed to have a test event in 2020, but it was cancelled because of Covid. Unlike every other course on the World Cup/global championships circuit, no one had spent time on the course and there's no history to draw from.

- the course was built out of thin-air on a mountainside that was not a ski area. Most World Cup races are on courses that have decades of racing and design tweaks.

- General feedback is that: the "course has very unusual terrain configuration, which has no resemblance to any other top level course around the world, as it runs mostly along the top of the ridge and in the canyon in bottom part."

Frankly, the way Simone Biles responded to her difficulties last summer put a doubt into the heads of a lot of American athletes, gave them an out to think that they could quit or didn't have it any more. That sowed doubt in a lot of athletes, many of whom went public to say that they had to take care of their mental health and couldn't compete. I see Ben Simmons and earlier Kyrie Irving as having done that, and there have been many others, some not prominent. Shiffrin is a great, great skier, as Biles was a great gymnast. This was all mental. She was even hammering her practice runs this week.