The bronze medal in the mixed team parallel skiing event was won by the United States on Sunday.
The American team that included Shiffrin, Paula, River, and Tommy were hoping to win a medal in the last Alpine event in Beijing. The squad lost to Norway in a tiebreak.
The U.S. team embraced at the bottom of the mountain after learning they had placed fourth and out of the medals. Shiffrin praised her teammates in a joint interview after the race.
Shiffrin said that he was not disappointed. My favorite memory is today. This was the best way to end the Games, skiing with your teammates.
She was expected to win multiple medals at the Beijing Games and had expressed her hope to compete in all five individual disciplines. She was able to participate in every event, but not much else went to plan. Shiffrin did not finish the giant slalom, slalom and Alpine combined races, but she did finish ninth in the super-G and 18th in the downhill. She would have tied Julia Mancuso for the most medals by an American woman in Alpine skiing if she had won one medal.
Shiffrin has been candid about her struggles throughout the Games.
Shiffrin crashed out of the slalom portion of the combined event on Thursday and told NBC that he had to take it. I don't know what to do. That is the frustrating thing. I don't think there is anything to fix. It just went wrong.
The team event, which pits a skier from each country in a head-to-head slalom race, was originally scheduled to take place on Saturday but was delayed multiple times due to the dangerous weather conditions. Shiffrin changed her travel plans to stay and participate in the event.
Shiffrin was the first to compete for the American team and she won her race. It was her first run in Beijing. She lost against Italy in the quarterfinals, against Germany in the semifinals and against Norway in the final, but she had clean runs. She said she was proud of her teammates for their strong performances.
There is too much at stake for you to hope for good karma or good luck, Shiffrin said. It is not just today.
By competing on Sunday, Shiffrin became the second woman in history to compete in all six Alpine events in the Olympics, joining her rival Petra Vlhova, who did so in the first year of the team event.
Austria won the gold medal, while Germany earned the silver. Switzerland was eliminated in the quarterfinals.
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