Shiffrin Drops Downhill as Alpine Combined Schedule Changed

On Monday evening, organizers announced a move of the Olympic women’s alpine combined from Friday, Feb. 23, to Thursday, Feb. 22, due to projected weather, including high winds. The men’s slalom will remain on Feb. 22.

The new start time for the women’s alpine combined is 11:30am KT Thursday/9:30pm EST Wednesday. Men’s slalom still will be held on Thursday, but now will start at 10:00am KT/8:00pm EST Wednesday.

With the announced move of the Olympic alpine combined event from Friday to Thursday, American Mikaela Shiffrin will not start in Wednesday’s Olympic downhill in order to focus on the combined.

“As much as I wanted to compete in the Olympic downhill, with the schedule change it’s important for me to focus my energy on preparing for the combined,” said Shiffrin. “I’m looking forward to cheering on our girls racing in the downhill and to compete myself in Thursday’s combined.”

“This track is incredible and it has been so fun to ski these last few days,” she continued. “As with every downhill I have skied this year, I am learning so much with each run. Each time I get to the finish I just want to go back to the top and do it again!”

Shiffrin had always planned to compete in the giant slalom, slalom and the alpine combined, with decisions to be made at games time relative to her participation in both the super-G and the downhill.

Release courtesy of U.S. Ski & Snowboard.