The man who fiercely shreds halfpipes openly shed tears on the snow, saying he was proud of his effort. It closed the book on a record-setting Olympic career.
"Coming back out and getting the chance to race again was just the perfect thing to do, actually," Shiffrin said. She had failed to finish qualifying runs in two events earlier this week.
Skeleton is a heart-racing event where a single racer flies face first down a frozen track. The inherent pressure of being "the first" and "only" isn't fazing her, Kelly Curtis says.
Shiffrin, a two-time Olympic champion, did not to finish the women's slalom race on Wednesday. She previously won a gold medal in this competition in 2014 during the Sochi Olympics.
"The sport of ski jumping has experienced one of its darker days," a Norwegian official said, after athletes from some of the top medal-contending teams were disqualified from competing.
Despite a fall during one of their qualifying runs, Shaun White and Chloe Kim were able to move on to the medal round of the men's and women's halfpipe events.
Diggins snared a hard-won bronze medal in the grueling event after Swedish skiers took an early lead. The only other time a U.S. athlete has won an individual medal in cross country came in 1976.
The Beijing Games are just the latest winter sporting event to use nearly all human-made snow for competitions. Winter sports experts say this is just the new reality.
The Winter Games kicked off Friday night in Beijing with an eye-catching but scaled-back opening ceremony. The city has made history as the first to host both the Summer and Winter Games.
The sport's governing body has gotten rid of a rule that required hip-enhancing panels on women's ski suits. Ski jumpers still want to see better pay and more opportunities to compete.
The 2022 Winter Olympics are set to begin this week in Beijing, China. And viewers will be able to tune into a series of new events appearing at the Games.
Athletes and other attendees will be in a closed "loop" with strict rules about everything from daily testing for athletes to how spectators should respond — no cheering out loud, please!
