BEIJING – Mikaela Shiffrin’s Beijing Olympics threatened to turn into a winter nightmare after she slid out of the slalom as fellow American star Chloe Kim starred and then sprawled in snowboard Wednesday.
Six gold medals were up for grabs on the fifth day of full competition in the Chinese capital, with Birk Ruud taking home one of them after a dominant victory in the freestyle skiing Big Air — even holding a Norwegian flag for his third jump.
But Shiffrin, one of the biggest names at the Games, will have to wait at least a bit longer for a career third Olympic gold in alpine skiing.
The 26-year-old made a shock early exit from the giant slalom on Monday and with the pressure on, suffered the same fate in the slalom.
She slid wide after just a handful of…
