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Mikaela Shiffrin Tests Positive for COVID, Won't Ski This Week Ahead of 2022 Olympics
December 27, 2021
United States skier Mikaela Shiffrin won't be able to take part in this week's World Cup giant slalom and slalom races in Austria due to a positive COVID-19 test.
Shiffrin announced her positive test on Twitter, adding that she is "doing well" and is "following protocol" in isolation:
Mikaela Shiffrin @MikaelaShiffrin👋, I wanted to let you all know that I’m doing well, but unfortunately I had a positive COVID test. I’m following protocol and isolating, & I will miss Lienz. Best of luck to my teammates…I’ll be cheering for you. Thank you all for your support. I’ll see you in the new year. 🤍 <a href="https://t.co/YxZnwWP6f1">pic.twitter.com/YxZnwWP6f1</a>
Per the Associated Press, Shiffrin joins Lara Gut-Behrami, Katharina Liensberger and Alice Robinson as skiers who have had to miss recent events due to COVID issues.
Shiffrin was scheduled to compete on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. She is leading the Alpine Ski World Cup overall standings with 750 total points.
Sofia Goggia ranks second with 635 points, but the AP noted the slalom and giant slalom were Shiffrin's best chances to maintain or increase that advantage because Goggia "has been virtually unbeatable in the speed events of downhill and super-G."
Speaking to reporters in November, Shiffrin said her plan for the Olympics is to "compete in every event I qualify for," but admitted that could change based on how her body responds.
"I'm planning to race everything, but we'll know a lot more closer to the Games. When I went to South Korea (for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics), I competed in the giant slalom race while still expecting to compete in everything. But after the slalom competition, I realised just how exhausting the previous six days had been. At that point I had to make a decision; [we decided] it wouldn't have been safe to race the Super-G or slalom at that point. So we needed to regroup and that's when we changed the program, and it could be a very similar thing in China."
There's no indication at this point that Shiffrin's positive test will impact her preparation for the Winter Olympics.
The 2022 Games are scheduled to take place from Feb. 4 to Feb. 20 in Beijing. Shiffrin has won three Olympic medals in her career, including gold in the slalom (2014) and giant slalom (2018).