Mikaela Shiffrin and Ester Ledecka in combined contention as Christine Scheyer leads after downhill at Beijing 2022

ByMichael Hincks

Updated 17/02/2022 at 03:50 GMT

The women’s combined is almost too close to call after the downhill event. Christine Scheyer went fastest, just 0.01 seconds quicker than Ester Ledecka, while Mikaela Shiffrin is fifth and 0.56 seconds off the pace heading into the slalom, which starts at 6am GMT. Watch every moment of Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on discovery+.

Christine Scheyer leads the way in the women’s combined after posting the fastest time in the downhill at the Winter Olympics, but favourite Mikaela Shiffrin and the remarkable Ester Ledecka remain in contention going into the slalom.

Shiffrin finished fifth in the downhill segment of the combined event at the Yanqing National Alpine Ski Centre, 0.56 seconds behind Scheyer.

Meanwhile, Ledecka crossed the line just 0.01 seconds off Scheyer, with the Czech – who won super-G gold four years ago – eyeing an unprecedented skiing-snowboard Olympic double-double having already defended her snowboard parallel giant slalom title at these Games.

Beijing 2022

Like Biles before her, Shiffrin reminds us that medals aren’t everything

03/07/2022 at 13:28

The second half of the combined event starts at 6am GMT, with 2014 slalom champion Shiffrin aiming to bounce back from the disappointment of her DNF in that individual event last week.

All three medallists from Pyeongchang 2018 were among the 26 competitors going for glory in the combined this time around – Gisin winning gold four years ago ahead of Shiffrin and Wendy Holdener.

Reigning champion Gisin was seventh down, and by that point three-time Olympic gold medallist Ester Ledecka had set the benchmark with a time of 1:32.43.

• Shiffrin reveals different mindset ahead of women’s downhill
• ‘Fell asleep eating goldfish’ – Shiffrin's 'tweet of the Olympics' after downhill training cancelled

Gisin was 0.4 seconds in the green after the first split but a slight error further down the slope saw her finish 0.99 seconds off the pace and into third position.

‘Courageous’ – Shiffrin with ‘absolute brilliance’ despite tough challenge

“She’s in a little bit of trouble!” Nick Fellows said on Eurosport’s commentary. “Gisin will need some fast slalom skis later today, that is slightly disappointing.”

Shiffrin was wearing bib No 9 and will have known Ledecka’s time would take some toppling.

“That’s a little twitchy error, it’s a sign she’s charging and laying everything on the line,” Emma Carrick-Anderson said on co-commentary as the American crossed the line 0.55 seconds behind Ledecka.

Fellows added: “It’s half a second off the pace, is that enough for Ledecka going into the slalom? Or does Shiffrin have it under control?”

'What an athlete, remarkable!' - Dominant Ledecka wins third Olympic gold

There was new leader soon after, with downhill expert Scheyer going just 0.01 seconds quicker than Ledecka, although the Austrian will need a big slalom effort to stay in contention.

Two more skiers arguably stronger at downhill, Ramona Siebenhofer and Romane Miradoli, then pushed Shiffrin down to fifth, while Italian Elena Curtoni became the first DNF of the event when missing a turn.

Holdener will have been a tad disappointed with her downhill run, and has it all to do after a time of 1:33.41 left her 0.99 seconds behind Scheyer.

--

Watch every moment of Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on discovery+

Beijing 2022

Strolz races with one ski pole, Austria still win gold in mixed team parallel final

20/02/2022 at 10:03

Beijing 2022

‘Just a few hundreths of a second!’ - Radamus collapses into wall as US and Shiffrin denied medal

00:00:59

|

20/02/2022 at 09:01

Beijing 2022

Bassino puts a ‘nightmare of an Olympics’ behind her to beat Shiffrin by smallest of margins

00:00:56

|

20/02/2022 at 09:00