For a ski racer as talented and successful as Mikaela Shiffrin, the first of three scheduled downhill training runs would not be a significant event under normal circumstances, even at an Olympics.
Her trip Saturday through fog and the occasional flittering snowflakes was vital, though. Shiffrin still isn’t sure whether she’ll enter the downhill on Tuesday.
“Today gives me a little bit more positivity,” said Shiffrin, a two-time Olympic gold medalist from the United States who didn’t finish her first runs of the giant slalom Monday or the slalom Wednesday at the Beijing Games, then was ninth in the super-G on Friday. “I would love to race this downhill, so that’s the plan. But ... we’re going to have to see how things go as the days progress.”
She was not pushing herself to the utmost level — no reason to, for what amounts to a practice session — and her ultimately inconsequential time of 1 minute, 34.80 seconds was ninth-fastest among all 46 starters, fifth-fastest among those who didn’t miss a gate.
“It felt strong and solid. And I was in a good position,” said Shiffrin, who had not trained, let alone raced, on downhill skis since finishing 38th in the World Cup stop at Lake Louise, Alberta, on Dec. 4. “It was never scary at any point and just a little bit of that exhilarating feeling.”
