The four Canadian skiers entered in the Beijing Olympics slalom qualified for the second run on Wednesday.
Ontarian Erin Myelzinski was the best of the group with a 17th place finish thanks to a time of 53.93 seconds on the IceRiver track at the National Alpine Ski Center in Yanqing.
Quebecer Laurence St-Germain took 22nd place in 54.51, immediately followed by Toronto’s Ali Nullmeyer (54.67). British Columbian Amelia Smart completed the Canadian quartet in 28th place, in 55.26 seconds.
The first 30 skiers of the 88 registered obtained their pass for the second round.
This first session was dominated by the German Lena Duerr. Part one, his reference time of 52.17 seconds lasted the whole race. She was only three hundredths ahead of the Swiss Michelle Gisin (52.20). Sweden’s Sara Hector, gold medalist in the giant slalom, posted the third time, 52.29.
The title is not defended at the Olympics: Sweden’s Frida Handsdotter, gold medalist in Pyeongchang, retired at the end of the 2018-19 season. Silver medalist in 2018, Wendy Holdener of Switzerland finished sixth in the first run. Third in South Korea, the Austrian Katharina Gallhuber was ranked 10th.
Reigning world champion Katharina Liensberger of Austria also reached the second run thanks to the seventh fastest time.
Shiffrin ruled out again
For a second consecutive event, the American Mikaela Shiffrin, one of the big favorites, was unable to complete the first run.
As she had done in giant slalom on Monday, where she was the reigning Olympic champion, Shiffrin straddled a gate at the very top of the course.
The 26-year-old skier grabbed her head with both hands before sliding to the edge of the track, where she sat down and remained for very long minutes.
Members of the US Ski Team and the FIS then went to his side. Shiffrin took a few more minutes before getting up and heading back down the track.
Shiffrin is under a lot of pressure at these Games, in part because she put a lot of pressure on herself by declaring that she wants to be on the podium in every event.
