Mikaela Shiffrin at Risk of Losing World No. 1 Spot to Closest Rival After Upsetting Decision

26-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin is inarguably one of the greatest Alpine skiers of our times. A three-time overall World champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist, Shiffrin is currently at the number one spot in the 2022 World Cup.

However, close behind her heels is Slovakian skier Petra Vlhova. Not only did Vlhova win a gold medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics this year, but she also won the overall World Cup title in 2021.

Now, the difference between the two skiers is almost negligible, as Vlhova closes in on the number one spot.

Mikaela Shiffrin could lose the World No. 1 spot to Petra Vlhova soon

Mikaela Shiffrin failed to medal in any individual or team event at the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022. On the contrary, Petra Vlhova left Beijing with a gold medal around her neck.

Subsequently, Shiffrin took a break after the Winter Olympics. As a result, it gave Vlhova the opportunity to race where Shiffrin isn’t. According to the U.S. Ski Team, Shiffrin opted to sit out of the race at the Crans-Montana downhills to rest.

Furthermore, the World Cups are also right around the corner, for which she would need to be at her best. Meanwhile, her closest rival, Petra Vlhova, decided to go ahead with the race, and finished 29th, which got her two more points in the world rankings.

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Hence, Shiffrin is only fifteen points away from Petra in rankings, with the two skiers being at 1026 and 1011 points, respectively. Even though Petra had left Beijing early after winning gold in order to get a jump on Shiffrin and other competitors when it came to training, she only managed merely two points out of the Crans-Montana downhill races.

A disappointing Winter Olympics for Mikaela

The Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 were certainly not kind to Mikaela Shiffrin. After a hiatus in 2020 following her father’s demise, all eyes were on Shiffrin as she came back to the sport. In fact, with two Olympic gold medals already, many expected her to hit the ground running and leave Beijing with more than just one medal.

However, that was not to be, as she crashed out consecutively in her first two events. In both the slalom and giant slalom, she ended the races with a DNF (Did Not Finish) result. Following that, her next two events were nothing to write home about either, as she struggled to place on the podium, and only finished inside the top 10 once.

When it came time for her final individual event, Shiffrin skied out during her run. Furthermore, even in the final team event, Shiffrin won her head-to-head against her Norwegian counterpart. However, the scores between Norway and US were tied.

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Hence, according to the tie-breaker rules, it was Team Norway that walked away with the win. In totality, it was quite a disappointing Winter Olympics for Shiffrin.