Mikaela Shiffrin to Skip Downhill Skiing Due to Altered 2018 Olympics Schedule

Mikaela Shiffrin announced Monday she will skip the downhill skiing event Wednesday in favor of focusing on Thursday's Alpine combined at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The Alpine combined was moved from Friday to Thursday due to wind conditions.

Shiffrin said the following regarding her decision, according to Nancy Armour of USA Today: "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. 

"I'm looking forward to cheering on our girls racing in the downhill and to compete myself in Thursday's combined."

Shiffrin entered the Olympics with the intention of competing in all five skiing events.

She won gold in the giant slalom and finished fourth in the slalom before pulling out of the super-G due to scheduling changes.

The 22-year-old is already a two-time Olympic medalist after winning gold in the slalom at the 2014 Sochi Games in addition to her gold in the giant slalom this year.

Shiffrin has 10 victories on the World Cup circuit this year, one of which was in the downhill, while the other nine were split between the slalom, giant slalom and parallel slalom.

She is first in the overall standings and ranks fifth in the downhill.

The Alpine combined features downhill and slalom elements, and it will represent Shiffrin's final chance to leave Pyeongchang with multiple medals.