‘Epic Underperformance’: Mikaela Shiffrin Reflects on Her Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 Performance

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin did not have the best performances at the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022. From the very beginning, Shiffrin suffered two consecutive crashes that resulted in DNF results.

In fact, early on in the Games, the DNF results were in both her main events- the slalom and the giant slalom. Despite looking forward and confident in the rest of the events, Shiffrin simply could not medal in any individual event.

Now, with one final team event left for the American alpine ski racer, she looks back on her Olympics performance.

Mikaela Shiffrin looks back on her Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 performance

The icy slopes at the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 have simply been very unkind to Mikaela Shiffrin. Not only did she suffer three DNF results, but she also failed to medal in any run she successfully completed.

Thus, even though she will make a historical record this year, she won’t be going home with an individual medal. Shiffrin will be joining Slovak skier Petra Vlhova as the only two ski racers to participate in six different Olympic events.

Expressing how she felt about her Olympics so far, she stated that “there’s been a little bit of overarching feeling of disappointment this Games for me performance-wise”.

Moreover, she even stated that she “keep(s) looking back on the races” and is happy with the way she has skied. Summarizing her 2022 Winter Olympics so far, Shiffrin said that “it’s been really fun.”?However, she only stated that “if (she) can get past the idea that (she) did not achieve, performance-wise, what anybody might have thought or the goals would have been or expected.”

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“It was a pretty epic underperformance,” Mikaela stated. Nevertheless, she looks forward to the team event tomorrow, “despite the overarching feeling of disappointment” she has.

“I didn’t get anywhere close to the results that I had the potential to get,” Mikaela Shiffrin said. “I certainly had ample opportunity.”

Shiffrin explains why she felt like a joke

After her third DNF on February 17, Shiffrin had stated that she felt like a joke. Thus, she explained why she made that comment about herself, and what went through her head at the time.

“It’s like the recurring meme. At a certain point it just feels like you kinda have to just laugh at it,” Shiffrin said about her situation so far at the Winter Olympics.

“There’s probably people out there who are a little bit laughing at my situation and maybe not in a particularly kind way,” she said, referring to the negative comments she has been receiving owing to her underperformance.

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Furthermore, she also talked about how it is indeed laughable to some extent. “My statistics for DNFing went up eighty percent in the last two weeks. It’s not funny to me because I take it seriously, but honestly, it’s a little bit okay to laugh,” the decorated ski racer finished.