Mikaela Shiffrin's shot at five gold medals at Winter Olympics ends before it could begin

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea -- There won’t be five gold medals for Mikaela Shiffrin. There won’t even be five races.

The new Olympic champion in giant slalom will skip Saturday’s Super-G race, her mother and coach, Eileen, said Thursday. The compressed schedule that resulted from the postponement of two races makes it an impossibility, Eileen Shiffrin said.

“She will have raced and trained – or tried to race – for six days in a row,” Eileen Shiffrin said. “She has to have a day off.”

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The giant slalom was supposed to be held Monday but was postponed until Thursday because of blustery conditions at the Pyeongchang Games. The slalom was postponed Wednesday because of similar weather, and will be run Friday.

With the Super-G scheduled for Saturday, that would have meant three consecutive days of racing. It’s too much with the downhill still to come Feb. 21 and the alpine combined on Feb. 23.

“It’s not a big goal anyway,” Eileen Shiffrin said. “We have speed girls who can race Super-G. She wanted to have shot at the hill and see how she would stack up against the speed girls, and then the coaches would choose the fastest people to go. There’s not even going to be an opportunity for her. We’re just going to get her a day of rest and then go do the downhill and combined.”

Shiffrin is a favorite to win the slalom, where she is the defending Olympic champion. She’s also a favorite for gold in the combined, and will be in contention for a medal in the downhill.

Source : usatoday