Shiffrin misses gate, out of slalom
Two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin’s second race at the Beijing Games ended even more quickly than her first.
The 26-year-old American skidded out of control about five seconds into the opening run of the slalom Wednesday and is out of the event.
That was even less time than her trip down the course lasted in the first run of the giant slalom Monday.
This time, Shiffrin went over to the side of the hill, sat in the snow and bowed her head.
Shiffrin came to China as one of the biggest stars of her — or any — sport at the Winter Olympics, a dominantat-times Alpine skier who has been in the spotlight since she was a teenager.
She has said she plans to enter all five individual races at the Yanqing Alpine Skiing Center, and one gold would make her the second female ski racer to win at least one at three consecutive Games.
Shiffrin’s next race could be the super-G on Friday. She has not competed in the event at an Olympics, but did win it at the 2019 world championships.
Luge: Germany’s Natalie Geisenberger on Tuesday became the first luger to win the Olympic women’s competition three times, completing her four runs at the Yanqing Sliding Center with a time of 3 minutes, 53.454 seconds — 0.493 of a second ahead of Anna Berreiter, who took silver for Germany.
“It’s hard to compare Olympic medals because every one has its own history,” Geisenberger said. “My first was very, very special because it was the first. Now I’m a third-time Olympic champion, but the first time as a mother. It’s just great.”
Ashley Farquharson was the top American finisher in her Olympic debut, placing 12th. She moved up five spots after a stellar fourth run.
“I just wanted to slide my little heart out,” Farquharson said. “And I think that’s what I did.”
Speedskating: Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands became the first speedskater since 1994 to successfully defend his Olympic title in the men’s 1,500 meters, edging countryman Thomas Krol.
Krol, the reigning world champion, broke the 20-year-old Olympic record in his race Tuesday. Nuis went even faster in the very next pair, crossing the line in 1 minute, 43.21 seconds.
World Cup leader Joey Mantia of the United States got off to a strong start but wound up sixth in 1:45.26.
One down, one to go:
Top-seeded Ester Ledecka of the Czech Republic successfully defended her Olympic snowboard parallel giant-slalom title, beating Daniela Ulbing of Austria for gold along the side-by-side course at Genting Snow Park.
Ledecka now will switch to ski racing to try to defend her super-G crown. Four years ago in South Korea, Ledecka became the first competitor to win gold in two different sports at the same Winter Games. She has a chance to repeat the feat in China.
“Super happy,” Ledecka said after her victory Tuesday.
Benjamin Karl of Austria held off Tim Mastnak of Slovenia for gold in the men’s parallel giant-slalom race.
Curling: Italy won the gold medal in mixed doubles, completing a near-perfect Olympics.
The 8-5 win over Norway on Tuesday at the Ice Cube capped a dominant performance for Amos Mosaner and Stefania Constantini. The Italians were undefeated in the roundrobin and then advanced to the gold-medal match with an 8-1 victory over Sweden.
Sweden won the bronze medal by beating Britain 9-3.
Cross-country skiing:
Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo and Sweden’s Jonna Sundling nabbed gold on the sprint course.
Klaebo successfully defended his Olympic sprint title at the Beijing Games, leading the final for the entire race and punching the air when he crossed the finish line with a time of 2 minutes, 58.06 seconds. Frederico Pellegrino of Italy took silver, 0.26 of a second behind. Russian skier Alexander Terenteva earned bronze, 1.31 behind.
In the women’s sprint, Sundling went into the final wearing bib No. 1 after qualifying with the fastest time and carried that momentum to the finish line. She won the race in 3:09.68, finishing 2.88 seconds ahead of teammate Maja Dahlqvist. Jessie Diggins of the United States took bronze, 3.16 seconds behind.
Biathlon: France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet won the 20-kilometer individual biathlon, adding a gold medal to the silver he won in the mixed relay over the weekend.