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Mikaela Shiffrin is latest elite skier to test positive for Covid-19, but said she will return early in the new year
- Two-time Olympic champion made the announcement on social media, saying she was ‘doing well’ and will be back early in 2022
- The positive result comes just six week out from the Beijing Games
Mikaela Shiffrin of the US leads Italy’s Sofia Goggia by 115 points in the overall World Cup standings. Photo: AFP
Two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin is the latest elite skier to test positive for Covid-19 with the Beijing Games less than six weeks away.
“I wanted to let you all know that I’m doing well, but unfortunately I had a positive COVID test,” the American wrote on her social media accounts Monday. “I’m following protocol and isolating.”
Shiffrin said she will miss World Cup giant slalom and slalom races scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, in Lienz, Austria, adding, “I’ll see you in the new year.”
Missing the races in Lienz is a big hit to Shiffrin’s chances of regaining the overall World Cup title. She leads Italy’s Sofia Goggia by 115 points in the standings but needs to maintain a high level of points in the technical disciplines of giant slalom and slalom since Goggia has been unbeatable in the speed events of downhill and super-G.
👋, 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. 🤍 pic.twitter.com/YxZnwWP6f1
— Mikaela Shiffrin (@MikaelaShiffrin) December 27, 2021
Shiffrin’s positive test comes at a particularly bad time for her with six consecutive technical races scheduled.
Other top skiers who have missed races recently after testing positive for Covid-19 include former overall champion Lara Gut-Behrami, Austrian world champion Katharina Liensberger and Alice Robinson of New Zealand.
Maryna Gąsienica-Daniel, the Polish skier who finished sixth in two giant slaloms in Courchevel, France, last week, also announced a positive test on Monday. She said on Instagram that she is “isolated at home,” and will miss the races in Lienz.
The Beijing Olympics open on February 4.
Liensberger and Robinson, who both had to sit out Courchevel, are back on the starting list for Tuesday’s race in Lienz. Gut-Behrami remains out after her positive case was announced 10 days ago.
Shiffrin’s Olympic record includes two golds – in slalom at the 2014 Sochi Games and giant slalom at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games – plus a silver in combined in 2018.
Shiffrin finished first and second in the last two races she competed in – the two giant slaloms in Courchevel. The next women’s World Cup race after Lienz is a slalom in Zagreb, Croatia, on January 4.