YANQING, China — Mikaela Shiffrin was slaloming through emotions after the Olympic race that betrayed her, processing the most disappointing runs of her skiing life, when her weary mind tried to venture back to “real loss.”
A reporter had alluded to it. Shiffrin knew what he meant. Two years ago this month, her beloved father, Jeff, had died in an accident at the family home. Here, amid sporting grief, she began to talk about the perspective it gave her — “but, right now,” she said, and then she stopped.
She bowed her head.
She looked away, as if in search of privacy.