Winter Olympics: Mikaela Shiffrin fourth in slalom as Frida Hansdotter wins

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Frida HansdotterImage source, Reuters
Image caption,

Frida Hansdotter finished sixth in the giant slalom on Thursday

XXIII Olympic Winter Games

Venue: Pyeongchang, South Korea Dates: 9-25 February

Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, Red Button, Connected TVs, BBC Sport website and mobile app. Full coverage times

Sweden's Frida Hansdotter won the women's slalom as favourite Mikaela Shiffrin missed out on a second gold of the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Defending slalom champion Shiffrin, who won the giant slalom on Thursday and was aiming for four golds in Pyeongchang, finished fourth.

Hansdotter, 32, took gold by 0.05secs from Switzerland's Wendy Holdener, while Katharina Gallhuber won bronze.

American Shiffrin, 22, said she was unwell after her first run.

Great Britain's Charlie Guest finished 33rd.

Other day seven golds

  • Austria's Matthias Mayer produced a brilliant run to take his second Winter Olympic gold in the men's super G.

  • Italian Michela Moioli won a thrilling women's snowboard cross final.

  • South Korea's Yun Sung-bin created history as the first athlete from outside Europe and North America to claim an Olympic sliding medal when he took gold in the men's skeleton.

  • Switzerland's Dario Cologna won the men's 15km freestyle to become the first cross country skier to win the same individual event at a Winter Olympics three times in a row.

  • Hanna Huskova won Belarus' second consecutive gold in the women's aerials.

  • Esmee Visser won the Netherlands' sixth speed skating gold, denying Martina Sablikova a third straight title in the women's 5,000m.

Disappointment for Shiffrin

Shiffrin, who became the youngest Winter Olympic champion in history when she won the slalom at Sochi 2014 aged 18, won five of the seven World Cup slalom races she started this season.

But she said she struggled with sickness during Friday's event.

"It was kind of sudden," she said. "It almost felt like a virus kind of puking, less about nerves.

"I'm disappointed for sure. I didn't really feel like myself.

"It's hard to put the blame on any one thing. There are a lot of things that come together to make it. It's just one of those things."

Holdener led after the first of the two runs, with Hansdotter second and Shiffrin fourth, 0.48secs behind.

In her second run, Shiffrin was heading for gold-medal position until she made a mistake.

Hansdotter was also slower on her second run but held off Holdener to win in a combined time of one minute 38.63 seconds.

Shiffrin's mother and coach Eileen said on Thursday her daughter would skip Saturday's super G because of the busy schedule caused by postponements earlier in the week.

Shiffrin is expected to compete in the downhill on Wednesday and alpine combined on Friday, 23 February.

Tonga's Taufatofua keeps his shirt on

Cologna may have won gold in his event but he was not the only one getting into the celebratory mood.

Tonga's Pita Taufatofua, who carried his flag shirtless in last Friday's opening ceremony, said before the race that he hoped he would not ski into a tree.

The trees at the Alpensia Ski Centre remained intact as Taufatofua finished third last in 114th place, almost 23 minutes behind Cologna.

The final finisher was 43-year-old Mexican German Madrazo, who had put on skis for the first time last year, and who joyfully hoisted his country's flag as he crossed the line and was greeted by some of his fellow competitors, including Taufatofua.

Cologna also welcomed the appearance of non-traditional alpine nations in the event.

"It is good to see many athletes at the start that like to do this sport," he said. "Of course we are fighting here for medals but it is also great to see the Olympic spirit.

Other news on day seven

The Jamaica women's bobsleigh team are expected to compete at Pyeongchang 2018 in a sled "donated" by a beer producer.

Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu took a giant step towards retaining his Olympic figure skating title after a flawless short programme with fans responding by showering the ice rink with Winnie the Pooh bears.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Hanyu is a fan of Winnie the Pooh

USA ice hockey player Ryan Donato followed in his father's footsteps by scoring both goals in his side's 2-1 Group B victory over Slovakia to make it two wins out of two. Donato's father Ted played in the 1992 Olympics where he was the second-highest scorer.

Sweden and Canada remain unbeaten in the men's curling competition with four wins out of four. Sweden defeated Great Britain 8-6 while Canada were 7-6 victors over the hosts Korea.

Two Swiss athletes have become the first competitors to be hit by a outbreak of the norovirus.

The International Olympic Committee has defended its decision to send home committee member Adam Pengilly from the Winter Games after an incident with a security officer.

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