Shiffrin off downhill, focuses on combined
Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin are the shining stars of the U.S. ski team, but in a quirk of the sport, they rarely compete against each other.
That was about to change in the next few days on the biggest ski-racing stage possible, the Pyeongchang Olympics, where Vonn and Shiffrin were expected to race head to head twice, in the downhill and the Alpine combined.
But late Monday, because of a weather-related scheduling change, Shiffrin pulled out of Wednesday’s downhill, leaving just a single event for this classic matchup that might not have many more chances for the spotlight.
The American acknowledged feeling “a little bit of relief ” after the program changed late Monday. Organizers brought forward the combined by one day to avoid forecast strong winds.
“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 in a statement.
Vonn and Shiffrin will face each other only on Thursday, in the last individual skiracing event of the 2018 Winter Games. The Alpine combined consists of one downhill run and one slalom run — each representing Vonn’s and Shiffrin’s respective specialties.
Another wardrobe malfunction: The first notes of Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” had just played when Gabriella Papadakis suddenly became aware that people were about to see a whole lot more of her shape than she had planned.
The French ice dancer’s glittering emerald costume at the Olympics had come unhooked at the neckline, and later in the routine, her left breast was exposed live on television.
When the clasp became unhooked, the 22-year-old was more worried about holding up her outfit than making sure her twizzles and rhumba were in sync. Her swinging short program with partner Guillaume Cizeron was threatening to go down in history alongside Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction during her halftime performance at the Super Bowl.
“I felt it right away and I prayed,” Papadakis said. “That’s about what I could do.”
Somehow, the French couple kept things together through most of their Latin program, producing a score of 81.93 points Monday that left them second behind Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.
It was during the final element, when Papadakis leaned back in Cizeron’s arms, that her costume rode upward to reveal her breast. The performance was being shown live on international television, and people immediately began posting screen-grabs of the incident on social media.
“Our coverage of ice dancing was live tonight. Once a competitor’s brief wardrobe issue became evident, we purposely used wider camera shots and carefully selected replays to keep the issue obscured,” NBC said in a statement. “We have edited the video for all television encores and online replays.”
Curling controversy: Russia could lose its chance to be reinstated before the end of the Winter Olympics because of a doping charge against curling bronze medalist Alexander Krushelnitsky.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport said in a statement that it has “initiated a procedure involving” Krushelnitsky, who finished third in mixed doubles with his wife, Anastasia Bryzgalova.
Russian officials said he tested positive for meldonium, which was banned in 2016, and has left the Olympic village. No date has been set for a hearing.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams says a failed doping test could keep Russia’s banned team from marching under the national flag at the Closing Ceremony. Russian athletes are participating in the Pyeongchang Olympics as “Olympic Athletes from Russia.”