Sports

Mikaela Shiffrin: ‘Next Olympics, I’m sure as heck not getting fifth’

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia — Tina Maze skied through rain and snow to win Olympic gold, and then swam through slush to celebrate.

In tough conditions on the slopes above Sochi, Maze won her second gold medal of the 2014 Games on Tuesday by leading the giant slalom from start to finish.

Wearing bib No. 1, the Slovene skied cautiously and cleanly through the gates to finish 0.07 seconds ahead of Anna Fenninger of Austria.

Maze celebrated by belly-flopping onto the wet snow and pretending to swim the breaststroke.

“Didn’t you feel like in (a) swimming pool? We are all wet, so I said, ‘Why not?’“ Maze said. “It’s been a great day for me.”

Defending champion Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany was third, trailing 0.27 behind Maze’s two-run time of 2 minutes, 36.87 seconds.

American teenager Mikaela Shiffrin placed fifth in her Olympic debut, missing a medal by just 0.23 seconds.

Mikaela ShiffrinGetty Images

“Next Olympics I go to, I’m sure as heck not getting fifth,” said Shiffrin, who will start as the favorite in the slalom on Friday.

The 30-year-old Maze added giant slalom gold in the rain to the tie for victory in a sunbathed downhill last week. She also won giant slalom silver at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Maze led the first run by 0.52 seconds. Jessica Lindell-Vikarby of Sweden had been in second place, but she faded down to place seventh.

Maze began the second run with a 0.85-second advantage over Fenninger, the super-G winner, but gave much of it away in a cautious run down the steep and slushy final slope.

“Not easy day, as we see the weather is playing (games), but I love it when it’s working out fine,” Maze said. “I don’t care if it’s raining, if it’s sunny or whatever. The slope was really good and it was possible to ski well.”

Julia Mancuso, GS champion at the 2006 Turin Olympics, skied out midway down the last slope in her final event.

“That’s a wrap for me here in Sochi. It’s been inspiring! Thanks for all the support and Love! #GoUSA!!! Now I get to celebrate my Bronze!!!,” Mancuso, who got her medal in super-combined, wrote on her Twitter account.

The first run was completed in the morning despite persistent rain on lower sections and the first snowfall at the Sochi Olympics higher up.

Racers struggled to carve clean turns as their skis pushed the soft snow aside.

“It’s like skiing on sugar,” sixth-place finisher Maria Pietilae-Holmner of Sweden said after the first run. “It’s hard to ski the way you want to ski.”