Shiffrin to skip downhill, face Vonn in combined

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea — Mikaela Shiffrin, who has one gold medal and one disappointing fourth-place finish at this year’s Winter Olympics, is dropping the downhill from her schedule, meaning she has only one more chance at a medal.

With high winds forecast for Friday, officials decided to move up the women’s combined — which consists of one run of downhill and one of slalom — to Thursday. That put the combined a day after the downhill and meant Shiffrin would have faced races on back-to-back days. So her effort in the combined, in which she should contend for gold, could be compromised.

“As much as I wanted to compete in the Olympic downhill, with the schedule change it’s important for me to focus my energy on preparing for the combined,” Shiffrin said. “I’m looking forward to cheering on our girls racing in the downhill and to compete myself in Thursday’s combined.”

The combined will also be the first head-to-head Olympic race between Shiffrin and U.S. teammate Lindsey Vonn, 33, who has said this will be her last Winter Games.

The combined is an event that adds the times from one downhill run and one slalom run, so it provides an intriguing matchup between 2010 Vancouver downhill gold medalist Vonn and slalom star Shiffrin.

Shiffrin was 23rd fastest in Sunday’s training run and 16th Monday, an indication she likely would not contend for a medal in downhill. By contrast, Vonn, who is strongest in the speed events, was first and third in the two training runs.

Vonn is considered the favorite in downhill. That has long been her best event, the one in which she has produced 42 of her women’s-record 81 World Cup race wins, including three in a row heading into the Olympics. She also owns four downhill world championships medals.

“She is definitely the favorite,” said Italy's Sofia Goggia.

Shiffrin’s pre-Games plan of attempting to medal in five events hasn’t gone as she had hoped. After starting with gold in the giant slalom, she finished a surprising fourth in the slalom. She dropped the super-G after weather compacted the 11-event Alpine schedule.

The downhill is a relatively new event for Shiffrin, who established herself as a star in the technical events of slalom and giant slalom. She has been improving in the speed events of downhill and super-G.