Mikaela Shiffrin passed in World Cup GS standings after ‘heartbreaking’ result

By OlympicTalkDec 17, 2019, 11:07 AM EST

Mikaela Shiffrin, who opened the World Cup season with four straight podiums and two wins, could not find her usual speed Tuesday, finishing 17th in a giant slalom in Couchevel, France.

Italian Federica Brignone won and snatched the World Cup GS standings lead from Shiffrin through three of a scheduled nine races. Shiffrin, the Olympic GS champion, won the season-long World Cup GS title for the first time last season.

On Tuesday, Shiffrin was “visibly upset, speechless and a little stunned,” according to U.S. Ski & Snowboard, after her worst result since the PyeongChang Olympics and her worst for a tech race outside of DNFs in more than five years.

“I have a lot of thoughts, but I probably shouldn’t say any of them on camera,” she joked, according to a press release. “Look, it’s not really OK for me to expect something more from the day. I mean … I skied and I placed how I placed. The girls who are ahead of me skied harder, better and cleaner than me.”

Shiffrin was 19th after the first run and had the 11-fastest time in the second run. She finished 1.65 seconds behind Brignone, who edged Norwegian Mina Fuerst Holtmann by .04. Shiffrin’s coach Mike Day set the course for run No. 2.

“I don’t have any excuse, really,” Shiffrin said, according to U.S. Ski & Snowboard. “They did an amazing job preparing the surface. The slope was actually in an amazing condition. Both courses were really fun to ski, and my equipment has been really great in training and everything. There’s really no one to blame but myself. I’m for sure going to watch my video. It’s experience, and there’s always a lesson to learn. Right now it feels heartbreaking, but it’s also not the end of the world, so we just have to move on to the next one.”

In the World Cup GS standings, Brignone moved from 14 points behind Shiffrin to 71 points ahead.

The Italian is likely to go into 2020 with the lead, given there is one World Cup GS over the next month and race winners receive 100 points for a win on a sliding scale for the top 30 finishers.

Shiffrin is still comfortably ahead in the chase for her fourth straight World Cup overall title, 165 points clear of Brignone.

Shiffrin skipped Sunday’s parallel slalom in St. Moritz, Switzerland, her third time passing on a tech race (aside from injury) since she burst onto the scene as a teenager in 2012. She used the time off to rest after last Saturday’s super-G, ahead of Tuesday’s GS and this weekend’s downhill and super combined in Val d’Isere, France.

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

MORE: 2019-20 Alpine skiing season TV schedule

Follow @nbcolympictalk

World Athletics excludes transgender women, tightens DSD athlete restrictions, extends ban on Russia, Belarus

By OlympicTalkMar 23, 2023, 7:19 PM EDT

Getty

World Athletics is excluding male-to-female transgender athletes from top-level international track and field and increasing restrictions for athletes with differences of sexual development (DSD).

Also Thursday, World Athletics lifted its ban on Russia’s track and field federation that dated to 2015 over doping violations, but Russia and Belarus athletes and officials remain banned due to the war in Ukraine. More on that here.

Regarding transgender athletes, the World Athletics council “decided to prioritize fairness and the integrity of the female competition before inclusion,” according to a press release.

The decision was made after a two-month consultation with national federations, athletes, coaches, the IOC and representatives from transgender and human rights groups.

“Decisions are always difficult when they involve conflicting needs and rights between different groups, but we continue to take the view that we must maintain fairness for female athletes above all other considerations,” World Athletics President Seb Coe said in the release. “We will be guided in this by the science around physical performance and male advantage which will inevitably develop over the coming years. As more evidence becomes available, we will review our position, but we believe the integrity of the female category in athletics is paramount.”

A working group, which will include a transgender athlete, will “further consider the issue of transgender inclusion” for 12 months.

There are no transgender athletes currently competing in top-level international track and field, according to World Athletics.

World Athletics also increased restrictions on DSD athletes.

Previously, DSD athletes were eligible to compete in women’s track and field events without having to suppress testosterone, except for running distances from the 400m through the mile. For 400m through the mile, athletes were eligible if their testosterone levels were capped at five nanomoles per liter. World Athletics said that no female athletes would have a level above the cap unless they had a DSD or a tumor.

Starting March 31, all women’s events will have a stricter limit of two and a half nanomoles per liter.

World Athletics said it made the decision based on “more than 10 years of research and evidence of the physical advantages that DSD athletes bring to the female category.”

All DSD athletes who have been competing outside of the 400m through the mile must suppress their testosterone levels below two and a half nanomoles per liter for six months before being eligible to compete again. This makes them ineligible to compete through the world championships in August, but they can come back and qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Testosterone must be suppressed for two years for events from 400m through the mile and for DSD athletes who have not already been competing.

Notable athletes who previously said they were affected by the DSD rules include South African Caster Semenya, the Olympic 800m champion in 2012 and 2016 who moved up to the 5000m rather than suppress testosterone to remain in the 800m. Semenya, 32, was eliminated in the 5000m heats at last summer’s world championships.

Also Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi, who took 2016 Olympic 800m silver behind Semenya and also moved up to longer-distance events. She won the 2021 Diamond League 5000m title and missed last year’s worlds due to a foot injury.

Christine Mboma of Namibia took silver in the Tokyo Olympic 200m after being ruled ineligible to race the 400m due to the testosterone cap. Mboma, 19, missed last year’s worlds after tearing a thigh muscle.

Niger’s Aminatou Seyni finished fourth in the 200m at last year’s worlds after dropping down from the 400m due to the rule.

Athlete Ally, a nonprofit LGBTQ athletic advocacy group, called the new policies discriminatory.

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

Follow @nbcolympictalk

2023 World Figure Skating Championships TV, live stream schedule

By OlympicTalkMar 23, 2023, 2:30 PM EDT

The world figure skating championships from Saitama, Japan, air live on USA Network and Peacock this week.

The U.S. has medal contenders in all four disciplines, one year after winning a medal in all four events for the first time since 1967 (note Russia’s ban, and China sent no skaters).

In the pairs’ event that starts Tuesday night (U.S. time), Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier can become the first U.S. duo to win multiple world titles, one year after becoming the first American pair to take gold since 1979.

They rank second in the world this season behind Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, last year’s silver medalists who look to earn Japan’s first pairs’ world title.

Japan has the world’s top two women’s singles skaters in reigning world champion Kaori Sakamoto and Grand Prix Final winner Mai Mihara.

Isabeau Levito, a 16-year-old American who won last year’s world junior title, ranks fourth in the field by best score this season. She can become the youngest world medalist since 2014.

Ilia Malinin, an 18-year-old American who this season became the first skater to land a quadruple Axel, is seeded second in the men’s field behind Shoma Uno, the reigning world champion from Japan.

In ice dance, Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates posted the world’s top score this season at last month’s Four Continents Championships in Colorado Springs. After 12 seasons together, their goal is to win their first world title after silver in 2015, bronze in 2016 and bronze in 2022.

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

Follow @nbcolympictalk

2023 World Figure Skating Championships Broadcast Schedule

Day	Competition	Time (ET)	Network
Tuesday	Pairs’ Short	10 p.m.-2 a.m.	Peacock \| LIVE STREAM \| Skate Order
Wednesday	Women’s Short	2:45-8 a.m.	Peacock \| LIVE STREAM \| Skate Order
	Women’s Short	6-8 a.m.	USA \| LIVE STREAM \| Peacock
	Pairs’ Free	10 p.m.-2 a.m.	Peacock \| LIVE STREAM \| Skate Order
Thursday	Men’s Short	2:45-8 a.m.	Peacock \| LIVE STREAM \| Skate Order
	Men’s Short	6-8 a.m.	USA \| LIVE STREAM \| Peacock
	Pairs’ Free	8-10 a.m.*	USA \| STREAM LINK
	Rhythm Dance	10 p.m.-3:30 a.m.	Peacock \| LIVE STREAM \| Skate Order
Friday	Women’s Free	4:15-8:30 a.m.	Peacock \| LIVE STREAM \| Skate Order
	Women’s Free	6:30-8:30 a.m.	USA \| LIVE STREAM \| Peacock
	Free Dance	11:30 p.m.-3 a.m.	Peacock \| LIVE STREAM
Saturday	Men’s Free	4:15-8:30 a.m.	Peacock \| LIVE STREAM \| Skate Order
	Men’s Free	6:30-8:30 a.m.	USA \| LIVE STREAM \| Peacock
	Highlights	8-10 p.m.*	NBC \| STREAM LINK

*Delayed broadcast.

More: Olympics

More: Olympics