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Mikaela Shiffrin’s misfortunes at the 2022 Olympics have her feeling “like a joke” — and the negative messages piling on from fans haven’t helped the struggling U.S alpine skier.
On Thursday, Shiffrin suffered a third did-not-finish (DNF) at the Winter Games in the combined event — a run each of downhill and slalom — which was her last solo event in Beijing. It marked her last chance to win an individual medal.
After she fell at the 12th gate and skied out in the Alpine combined, a frustrated and emotional Shiffrin took to social media to share the wave of trolling comments from critics.
In posts on Instagram and Twitter, Shiffrin listed a variety of insults she’s apparently received online during the Beijing Winter Games: “Choker, arrogant, narcissist, loseritis, fake nice, got what you deserved, dumb b—h, dumb blonde, disgrace, unacceptable.”
Shiffrin continued writing over a grey background, and claimed she’s heard things such as, “[She] can’t perform as soon as she has completion” and “[She] can’t handle the pressure.”
Earlier in the games, Shiffrin had already failed to finish in her signature disciplines, the slalom and giant slalom, and chose to forgo media interviews amid her struggles. Her best finish was ninth in the super-G.
Fans apparently told Shiffrin, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, that her time “is over” and she should retire at age 26.
Other messages included: “[She] can’t even do the one thing she is supposed to do right. [She] didn’t get all the medals [and] now she’s going insane, [She’s] gone off the deep end. Finally got what you deserved. Can’t wait for you to be done so we don’t have to see your failure looser face anymore.”
Shiffrin expected the backlash after failing to finish in Thursday’s event.
“There’s going to be a whole chaotic mess of crap that people are saying about how I just fantastically failed these last couple of weeks in the moments that actually counted,” she said, per CNN. “It’s really strange, but I’m not even afraid of that right now, and maybe it’s because I don’t have any emotional energy to give any more.
“The most disappointing thing, beyond walking away from the Games with no individual medals … is that I had multiple opportunities to ski slalom on this track, and I failed in all of them. That’s disappointing for me, it’s disappointing for my whole team, for the coaches, for everybody who’s been working so hard, and it’s disappointing for anybody back home who woke up and thought, especially today, ‘Hey, she did a pretty good downhill run, set up pretty well for the slalom.’ Right now, I just feel like a joke.”
Shiffrin said she will continue to practice for Saturday’s mixed team event.
“Just get up. It’s not always easy, but it’s also not the end of the world to fail. Fail twice. Daily 5 times. At the Olympics. [Enter me…] Why do I keep coming back? Gosh knows it hurt more than it feels good lately. I come back because those first 9 turns today were spectacular, really heaven,” she wrote in her social media posts.
“That’s where I’m meant to be and I’m stubborn as s–t.”
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