Cortina D’Ampezzo (Italy), Feb 19: Redemption, at last, for Mikaela Shiffrin at the Winter Olympics.
The American superstar put in two dominant runs to win the women’s slalom on Wednesday by a massive 1.50 seconds, ending a run of eight straight Olympic races without a medal for perhaps the greatest Alpine skier of all time.
It was the largest margin of victory in any Alpine skiing event at the Olympics since 1998 and the third biggest in women’s slalom, the event she won as a fresh-faced 18-year-old in Sochi in 2014.
After adding gold and silver to her collection in Pyeongchang in 2018, Shiffrin went 0 for 6 in Beijing in 2022 and failed to medal in either the team combined or giant slalom in Cortina before nailing the slalom.
Shiffrin became the first American skier to win three Alpine gold medals.
Canada and US need overtime to advance
Canada avoided what would have been a stunning quarterfinal exit in men’s hockey by rallying to beat Czechia 4-3 in overtime. Nick Suzuki tied it on a deflection with 3:27 left and Mitch Marner scored in OT.
The United States also needed overtime before eventually topping Sweden 2-1. Quinn Hughes scored in OT to give the US the win after giving up the tying goal to Mika Zibanejad with 91 seconds left in the third period.
Dylan Larkin deflected in Jack Hughes’ shot for the only U.S. goal in regulation.
Canada stayed in the tournament but has a major concern after losing Sidney Crosby to injury five minutes into the second period. Crosby’s right leg appeared to buckle bracing for contact from rugged Czechia defenseman Radko Gudas.
In the other quarterfinal matches, Finland also won in overtime, 3-2 against Switzerland, while Slovakia beat Germany 6-2.
Klaebo extends golden run
Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo’s golden run continued as the Norwegian cross-country star secured his fifth gold at these Games – and a record 10th overall – by winning the men’s team sprint.
Klaebo beat back a challenge from the United States to improve on his own record tally, racing with Einar Hedegart to win in 18 minutes, 28.9 seconds.
Americans Ben Ogden and Gus Schumacher were 1.4 seconds behind for the silver, while Italy’s Elia Barp and Federico Pellegrino pleased the home crowd by taking bronze.
Sweden won gold in the women’s team sprint. (AP)
