Mikaela Shiffrin skiing out of one event at the Winter Olympics was shocking enough. Doing it twice was unfathomable.
The U.S. skiing star saw another of her best chances at a gold medal in Beijing slip away on Wednesday when a missed gate in the slalom left her disqualified from the event in which she is a four-time world champion.
Shiffrin, immediately realizing what had happened, made her way off to the side and sat down in the snow, dejected. The sight of her heartbreak may end up being one of the most recognizable images of the Beijing Games, and immediately drew a wave of sympathy on social media.