BEIJING (AP) — A United States team led by Mikaela Shiffrin is leaving the Beijing Olympics with just one of the 30 individual medals in Alpine skiing. And it’s a silver (from Ryan Cochran-Siegle in the men’s super-G).
The country responsible for Winter Games success stories such as Bode Miller, Lindsey Vonn, Ted Ligety and Julia Mancuso over the past two decades alone last earned just one ski racing medal at an Olympics in 1998 — and at least that was a gold. So really, you have to go all the way back to 1988, when Americans earned zero Alpine medals, to find a worse showing than 2022.
“We have clear goals and expectations that we build into our program,” head U.S. women’s Alpine coach Paul Kristofic said, “and, of course, when you don’t do that, it’s disappointing.”
There is one last chance for a medal Saturday in the team parallel race, an event added to the Olympics in 2018. Shiffrin is part of the U.S. roster for that, along with Paula Moltzan, AJ Hurt, River Radamus, Tommy Ford and Luke Winters.
So what went wrong for the U.S. this time? A lot, it turns out.
Start with Shiffrin, already one of the most accomplished skiers in history at age 26, with three medals from past Olympics — two golds, one silver — along with six world championship golds, three overall World Cup titles, 73 World Cup race wins (third-most ever) and 47 World Cup slalom victories (a record for any discipline).
She entered all five women’s races in China and this is how they went, in order: giant slalom, Did Not Finish; slalom, Did Not Finish; super-G, ninth; downhill, 18th; combined, Did Not Finish.
Robert F. Bukaty
Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States crashes out during the women's combined slalom at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022, in the Yanqing district of Beijing. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
“I don’t really understand it, and I’m not sure when I’m going to have much of an explanation,” Shiffrin said Thursday, when she tumbled about 10 seconds into the slalom portion of the combined after being fifth in the downhill. “And I can’t explain to you how frustrated I am to not know what I can learn from the day.”
Put simply: The world’s best skier in recent years produced poor performances over the past 1 1/2 weeks.
Other issues for the United States included the absence of Breezy Johnson, the second-best women’s World Cup downhiller this season, who missed the Olympics after surgery; Ford raced for the first time since getting seriously injured in January 2021; a smaller men’s team of just six racers because of rules changes, so only one American entered the slalom and, for the first time, zero entered the combined.
The best showing by an American woman was Moltzan’s eighth place in slalom.
Aside from Cochran-Siegle’s silver, the only American man to fare better than 12th was Radamus’ fourth place in giant slalom.
Maybe medals, especially golds, aren’t the only measures of Winter Games success. They are, though, what matters most when judging a team.
“It’s the real superstars that have had the medal hauls in recent Olympics,” head U.S. men’s Alpine coach Forest Carey said, “and on the men’s side, anyway, we don’t have those superstars.”
At the Pyeongchang Games four years ago, the American men didn’t earn an Alpine medal, but the women got three.
Other U.S. medal totals this century: five in 2014, eight in 2010, two in 2006, two in 2002.
“It is a bit strange, because usually the Americans are always strong at big events,” Italian skier Alex Vinatzer said. “But at the end of the day, a one-off event is a one-off event, and it’s hard to do well.”
Look at what Switzerland, a nation of fewer than 10 million people, achieved: five golds, an Olympic Alpine record, from Corinne Suter (women’s downhill), Lara Gut-Behrami (women’s super-G), Michelle Gisin (women’s combined), Beat Feuz (men’s downhill), Marco Odermatt (men’s giant slalom). That nation accumulated nine individual medals in the sport.
Austria collected six medals (two golds); Italy four; France and Norway three apiece.
“This Olympics came at a bit of a transition time,” Carey said, pointing to Radamus, who turned 24 last weekend, as an example of up-and-coming talent. “The Olympics are all about medals, but the guys we have competed pretty well. And we have a stronger foundation coming up. It’s just hard to say if any of them are going to be transcendent like Bode or Ted.”
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‘Here to grow the game’: Why North American hockey players are competing for China
Kirsty Wigglesworth
NAME: Paul Schommer
SPORT: Biathlon
COUNTRY: U.S.A.
Tossing around a football and playing video games help Paul Schommer and his biathlon team pass the time. Their game of choice at the moment is Mario Kart, which they play on their smartphones.
“I’m not as into it as some of my teammates, but I definitely like to join in on that,” the 29-year-old said.
Schommer also likes watching sports highlights and TV shows from back home. For reading, he has his Bible and a Kindle, on which he’s reading “American Buffalo,” about author Steven Rinella’s hunt for the wild animal in the Alaskan wilderness.
The team also likes looking up trivia online, he says, such as how Green Bay Packer Equanimeous St. Brown got his name.
“Sometimes you just spend half an hour diving deeper into these topics, and you just kind of, like, laugh at some of the crazy stories,” he said.
Kirsty Wigglesworth
NAME: Paul Schommer
SPORT: Biathlon
COUNTRY: U.S.A.
Tossing around a football and playing video games help Paul Schommer and his biathlon team pass the time. Their game of choice at the moment is Mario Kart, which they play on their smartphones.
“I’m not as into it as some of my teammates, but I definitely like to join in on that,” the 29-year-old said.
Schommer also likes watching sports highlights and TV shows from back home. For reading, he has his Bible and a Kindle, on which he’s reading “American Buffalo,” about author Steven Rinella’s hunt for the wild animal in the Alaskan wilderness.
The team also likes looking up trivia online, he says, such as how Green Bay Packer Equanimeous St. Brown got his name.
“Sometimes you just spend half an hour diving deeper into these topics, and you just kind of, like, laugh at some of the crazy stories,” he said.
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‘Here to grow the game’: Why North American hockey players are competing for China
Luca Bruno
NAME: Tommy Ford
SPORT: Alpine Skiing
COUNTRY: U.S.A.
Tommy Ford expected temperatures at the mountain slope venues of the Beijing Winter Games to be chilly. He didn’t expect it to be as challenging to stay warm.
So to pass the time between practice and slalom runs, he and his teammates have played dress-up.
“We’ve been trying a lot of different outfits on,” Ford said, laughing.
That’s not the only thing he’s been doing to unwind. Someone in the Yanqing Olympic Village has a set of virtual reality goggles. That’s doing the trick, Ford said.
“There’s a first-person shooter thing,” he said. “I don’t know a lot of shooter games, but that was pretty interesting. There’s also Fruit Ninja. We’ve played a little Mario Kart.”
Luca Bruno
NAME: Tommy Ford
SPORT: Alpine Skiing
COUNTRY: U.S.A.
Tommy Ford expected temperatures at the mountain slope venues of the Beijing Winter Games to be chilly. He didn’t expect it to be as challenging to stay warm.
So to pass the time between practice and slalom runs, he and his teammates have played dress-up.
“We’ve been trying a lot of different outfits on,” Ford said, laughing.
That’s not the only thing he’s been doing to unwind. Someone in the Yanqing Olympic Village has a set of virtual reality goggles. That’s doing the trick, Ford said.
“There’s a first-person shooter thing,” he said. “I don’t know a lot of shooter games, but that was pretty interesting. There’s also Fruit Ninja. We’ve played a little Mario Kart.”
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Analysis: Plenty went wrong for US Alpine skiing at Olympics
Jae C. Hong
NAME: Niek van der Velden
SPORT: Snowboarding
COUNTRY: Netherlands
When Dutch snowboarder Niek van der Velden isn't strapped to his board, he likes playing video games with his teammates on the PlayStation they brought.
“Mostly we’re gaming,” van der Velden said after a practice session at the Shougang big air venue on Beijing’s outskirts. He said the lounge in the Olympic Village is also nice, and has table tennis.
He also likes watching short videos on YouTube and brought his DJ kit for his spare time. “So that’s super chill,” he said.
Jae C. Hong
NAME: Niek van der Velden
SPORT: Snowboarding
COUNTRY: Netherlands
When Dutch snowboarder Niek van der Velden isn't strapped to his board, he likes playing video games with his teammates on the PlayStation they brought.
“Mostly we’re gaming,” van der Velden said after a practice session at the Shougang big air venue on Beijing’s outskirts. He said the lounge in the Olympic Village is also nice, and has table tennis.
He also likes watching short videos on YouTube and brought his DJ kit for his spare time. “So that’s super chill,” he said.
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Analysis: Plenty went wrong for US Alpine skiing at Olympics
Alessandra Tarantino
NAME: Max Parrot
SPORT: Snowboard
COUNTRY: Canada
Max Parrot says there’s plenty at the Olympic Village to keep him busy.
“There’s like a huge gym with, like, two stories. It’s pretty big,” said Parrot, who took the gold in the snowboarding slopestyle event and is also competing in the big air event. He said there are also pool tables, ping-pong tables and virtual reality games he has played “for hours” with teammate Seb Toutant.
Parrot said the virtual reality games are mind altering: “You’re on a submarine going underwater and you’re on a chair that moves,” he said, noting that the motion gets you “pretty dizzy.”
Sports massages are also part of downtime, which has been scarce for Parrot since his comeback from cancer raised his public profile. “I think the rest will will come after the games.”
Alessandra Tarantino
NAME: Max Parrot
SPORT: Snowboard
COUNTRY: Canada
Max Parrot says there’s plenty at the Olympic Village to keep him busy.
“There’s like a huge gym with, like, two stories. It’s pretty big,” said Parrot, who took the gold in the snowboarding slopestyle event and is also competing in the big air event. He said there are also pool tables, ping-pong tables and virtual reality games he has played “for hours” with teammate Seb Toutant.
Parrot said the virtual reality games are mind altering: “You’re on a submarine going underwater and you’re on a chair that moves,” he said, noting that the motion gets you “pretty dizzy.”
Sports massages are also part of downtime, which has been scarce for Parrot since his comeback from cancer raised his public profile. “I think the rest will will come after the games.”
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Analysis: Plenty went wrong for US Alpine skiing at Olympics
Natacha Pisarenko
NAME: Jason Brown
SPORT: Figure Skating
COUNTRY: U.S.A.
Video chatting on his mobile phone has helped keep figure skater Jason Brown connected with friends and family during the high-pressure competition.
But there is another phone app helping him pass the time in the bubble: Spider Solitaire.
It’s “my go-to game,” said Brown, who wrapped up his Olympics last week as his teammate Nathan Chen clinched gold.
Still, the limitations on movement haven’t been as jarring as some suspected, he added.
“In the last few years, we’ve gotten really used to COVID and all the protocols. We’ve had to adapt in ways, kind of shut off and be isolated. So it’s almost like this is normal.”
Natacha Pisarenko
NAME: Jason Brown
SPORT: Figure Skating
COUNTRY: U.S.A.
Video chatting on his mobile phone has helped keep figure skater Jason Brown connected with friends and family during the high-pressure competition.
But there is another phone app helping him pass the time in the bubble: Spider Solitaire.
It’s “my go-to game,” said Brown, who wrapped up his Olympics last week as his teammate Nathan Chen clinched gold.
Still, the limitations on movement haven’t been as jarring as some suspected, he added.
“In the last few years, we’ve gotten really used to COVID and all the protocols. We’ve had to adapt in ways, kind of shut off and be isolated. So it’s almost like this is normal.”
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Analysis: Plenty went wrong for US Alpine skiing at Olympics
David J. Phillip
NAME: Keegan Messing
SPORT: Figure Skating
COUNTRY: Canada
Keegan Messing hadn’t had a lot of time to process being in the Olympic bubble before it was his turn to skate in the men’s freestyle event last week. A positive COVID-19 test delayed his departure from Canada to Beijing, and he’d arrived just two days before his event.
“It’s been a hurricane of emotions,” Messing said. “The lack of hugs, the lack of closeness, the old friends that you haven’t seen since the last games. It almost feels like a small piece of humanity is being left out of the mix.”
The Canadian figure skater said he has coped with the complex emotions video chatting via his mobile phone.
“I do a lot of FaceTime with my son and my wife back home,” he said.
David J. Phillip
NAME: Keegan Messing
SPORT: Figure Skating
COUNTRY: Canada
Keegan Messing hadn’t had a lot of time to process being in the Olympic bubble before it was his turn to skate in the men’s freestyle event last week. A positive COVID-19 test delayed his departure from Canada to Beijing, and he’d arrived just two days before his event.
“It’s been a hurricane of emotions,” Messing said. “The lack of hugs, the lack of closeness, the old friends that you haven’t seen since the last games. It almost feels like a small piece of humanity is being left out of the mix.”
The Canadian figure skater said he has coped with the complex emotions video chatting via his mobile phone.
“I do a lot of FaceTime with my son and my wife back home,” he said.
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Analysis: Plenty went wrong for US Alpine skiing at Olympics
Robert F. Bukaty
Mikaela Shiffrin, of the United States sits on the side of the course after skiing out in the first run of the women's slalom at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022, in the Yanqing district of Beijing. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Robert F. Bukaty
Mikaela Shiffrin, of the United States sits on the side of the course after skiing out in the first run of the women's slalom at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022, in the Yanqing district of Beijing. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
