PYEONGCHANG, South Korea (AP) - Mikaela Shiffrin and the rest of the women's giant slalom racers get a rare chance to open the Alpine schedule at the Olympics. The men's downhill has been postponed because of high winds. That means the women will compete before the men in ski racing at a Winter Games for the first time since 1984.
As her mother, Eileen, who also serves as a coach, watched from the bottom of the Yongpyong hill, Shiffrin joined other racers in taking a couple of casual trips down a gateless giant slalom piste during a free ski the day before Monday's race.
The last time the women competed before the men was at the Sarajevo Games, when a blizzard led to a rearranged schedule.
The 22-year-old Shiffrin could be a transcendent figure over the next two weeks. She was the slalom gold medalist at the 2014 Sochi Games, where she also finished fifth in the giant slalom. She is considered a top medal contender in both this time around.