Mikaela Shiffrin laughed off how she finished the final race of the World Cup season, getting turned backwards, falling and sliding down the giant slalom course for at least 15 seconds in St. Moritz, Switzerland, on Sunday.
“I twisted out of the turn too soon,” Shiffrin told media after her failed first run. “I was getting really excited about my skiing until that point. … I was sliding down the rest of the course on my butt. … I was doing a backwards snow plow, which I have now perfected.”
Shiffrin, 21 and the youngest Olympic slalom champion, finished the season with five World Cup wins — all in slalom.