‘This Was Really Big’: Amidst Mental Breakdown Mikaela Shiffrin Congratulates Longtime Rival for Winning Her Golden Title at Beijing Winter Olympics 2022

American alpine ski racing star Mikaela Shiffrin has suffered two setbacks so far at the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022. In the women’s giant slalom as well as the slalom event, Shiffrin crashed, resulting in disqualification both times.

Now, as if to add insult to injury, her biggest rival, Slovakian skier Petra Vlhova, has won the Gold Medal. In fact, Vlhova won the Gold in the very event Shiffrin crashed in the second time, which is the women’s slalom event.

Mikaela Shiffrin congratulates longtime rival Petra Vlhova on Olympic Gold

26-year-old Petra Vlhova became the first Slovakian today to win an Olympic Gold Medal in alpine skiing. Many also know her as Mikaela Shiffrin‘s biggest rival in the sport. However, the two certainly have a lot of respect for each other, as was apparent at the last Olympics.

As Shiffrin remained out of the slalom event following a crash and disqualification, Petra went on to bring home gold for Slovakia. Undeniably, Shiffrin and Vlhova are two of the best skiers in the world, and many looked forward to their clash.

Heading into the slalom event at the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022, everybody looked forward to their face-off. However, the competition wasn’t quite the nail-biter everyone expected, as Shiffrin crashed early in her event.

Now, as Vlhova bagged the Gold Medal, Shiffrin took to Instagram to celebrate and congratulate her longtime rival over her victory. She posted Petra’s celebratory post on her Instagram story, congratulating Petra and her team.

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“I can step out of my little world currently consumed with self-pity to acknowledge- this was really big today,” Shiffrin wrote. Clearly, her losses have no bearing on her humility and sportsmanship, as she had nothing but good wishes for her Slovakia rival.

Shiffrin seems dejected after second consecutive crash

Following her second crash at the Winter Olympics this year, 26-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin sat dejectedly in the snow. It was a very emotional moment to see the 2-time Gold Medalist ski her way back after defeat.

Mikaela teared up as she faced the media, admitting that her consecutive crashes have forced her to “second-guess the last 15 years”. Moreover, she also stated how it made her rethink her own talent and whatever she knew about it.

The women’s slalom event is where Shiffrin has always performed the best. It has contributed largely to her stature and legend as an athlete.

However, Shiffrin has plenty of events she can make up for her slalom performance over the course of the next 10 days. Regardless of the results, she has proven herself to be one of the greatest athletes of the sport, and her name is forever going to be etched in history.

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