Mikaela Shriffrin Wins Gold in First Race of 2018 Olympics

Despite weather delays, she still came out on top.

olympics
Gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States celebrates during the medal ceremony for Alpine Skiing - Ladies' Giant Slalom on day six of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games. (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
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Mikeala Shriffrin won gold in her first race of the 2018 Winter Olympics, despite delays due to weather. She was the youngest U.S. skier to win a World Cup race at only 17. She has since accumulated 41 World Cup wins and three world championships, all in slalom. But she has also expanded her repertoire, and this year she won a downhill race and two giant slaloms. In Pyeongchang, she won by a margin of 0.39 seconds over Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway. This makes her just the third American to win two career gold medals in Alpine skiing.

“It’s an incredible feeling,” she said afterward, according to Sports Illustrated. “I really went for it on the second run. It’s like, my best effort is good enough, and now I have Olympic gold in giant slalom.”

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