CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy – Sunday was not a great day for Team USA, but it was about as great a day as can be had if you are a fan of Alpine skiing.
It was absolutely gorgeous. Frigid, but gorgeous.
The women's giant slalom was fiercely competitive. At one point, there was a three-way tie for silver. At another point, with only one skier to go, there was a two-way tie for gold.
Then, on the final run, Cortina native Federica Brignone zoomed her way to the top of the podium for her second gold medal of these Olympics — her competitors bowing down to her, "Wayne's World" style, after the finish. An exciting, fairy-tale finish for the woman on her home snow and playing to her home crowd.
Team USA failed to medal.
Team star Mikaela Shiffrin came the closest, finishing 11th. After the race, she said she felt really good on the course and tipped her hat to her competition.
"No matter how many times I've won in slalom, it only gets harder, more precise," Shiffrin said. "The level of the competition gets higher, so I'll try to take that on. Today was a really good example of, I think for many racers, that mentality, and certainly from my side, so I'm proud of that."
Shiffrin and the rest of Team USA will get one more chance in slalom coming up Wednesday.
Meanwhile, in other action in Cortina, Herriman's Kaysha Love was competing in bobsled. It is the monobob competition — in other words, she is in the bobsled by herself.
Athletes' times from Sunday will be added to the times they post Monday to determine the medals. After two runs on Sunday, Love sits in fifth, less than a second off the leader.
