Two-time Olympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin will leave Beijing without a single medal. Not only did Shiffrin fail to win a medal in an individual event, but she also couldn’t secure a medal in the final team event. In fact, Shiffrin had insisted on staying in Beijing in order to compete alongside her USA team in the final event.

Th decision saw her set a record of competing in six different Olympic events, but it required her to extend her stay by 3 days and disrupted her set schedule.

Shiffrin should have left earlier in order to continue her World Cup season. Instead, she made a last-minute decision to stay in Beijing and compete at her country’s team event as well.

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It could also have been a chance for Shiffrin to not leave Beijing empty-handed. Had team USA won against team Norway in their small final event, they would have at least ended up with bronze.

Norway came out on top, and team USA would indeed be leaving without a medal, including Mikaela Shiffrin.

Mikaela Shiffrin is grateful for her teammates

After Team USA failed to reach the podium in their small final combined team event, Mikaela Shiffrin ensured that her team knew how grateful she was for them.

Despite finishing fourth in the standings and narrowly missing a medal, Team USA had some positives to look at. It was Mikaela Shiffrin who expressed her gratitude to her teammates.

The 26-year-old stated, “These guys (competed) so strongly.”

Moreover, she revealed how watching her teammate River Radamus ski down inspired hope in the rest of the team.

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What did you make of Shiffrin’s comments? Also, will her decision to stay in Beijing prove to be costly?