Shiffrin experiences a rare challenge

Female steps in after Mori forced to abandon post

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Even if it wasn’t gold, Mikaela Shiffrin’s 13th medal at a major championship felt different from all her previous ones.

For the first time in a technical race, she had an American teammate next to her competing for victory.

Shiffrin and Nina O’Brien had the two fastest times in the opening run of the women’s giant slalom at the world championships on Thursday.

Before the second run, they stood close on the hill inspecting the course. Shared a lift ride up the hill. And exchanged kind words before skiing down, one after the other.

It felt like an ordinary training session, rather than the decisive run for gold.

While O’Brien dropped to 10th, Shiffrin earned a silver medal behind Swiss winner Lara Gut-Behrami to give her one of each color at these worlds — and with her best event, slalom, still to come.

In total, Shiffrin now has 10 career world championship medals to go with three Olympic ones.

TOKYO — Seiko Hashimoto has appeared in seven Olympics, four in the winter and three in the summer — the most by any “multi-season” athlete in the games.

She made even more history on Thursday in Japan, where women are still rare in the boardrooms and positions of political power.

The 56-year-old Hashimoto was named president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee after a meeting of its executive board, which is 80% male. She replaces 83-year-old Yoshiro Mori, a former Japanese prime minister who was forced to resign last week after making sexist comments about women. Essentially, he said women talk too much. “Now I’m here to return what I owe as an athlete and to return back what I received,” Hashimoto told the board, according to an interpreter.

Hashimoto had been serving as the Olympic minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. She also held a portfolio dealing with gender equality and women’s empowerment. She said she would be replaced as Olympic minister by Tamayo Marukawa.

Hashimoto brought up the issue of gender equality repeatedly, and focused on problems at the organizing committee, which is maledominated, has no female vice presidents and has an executive board made up of 80% men. It employs about 3,500 people.

“Of course, it is very important what Tokyo 2020 as an organizing committee does about gender equality,” she said, sitting between two males — CEO Toshiro Muto and spokesman Masa Takaya. “I think it will be important for Tokyo 2020 to practice equality.”

Hashimoto competed in cycling in three Summer Olympics (1988, 1992 and 1996) and in speedskating in four Winter Olympics (1984, 1988, 1992 and 1994). She won a bronze medal — her only medal — at the 1992 Albertville Games.