Mikaela Shiffrin won't conduct media duties for 'foreseeable future' after early exits at Beijing Winter Olympics 2022

Mikaela Shiffrin will not conduct media duties for the "foreseeable future" after a difficult start to the Beijing Olympics.

The American great unexpectedly crashed out of the women’s giant slalom after missing a gate, then suffered the same fate in the slalom two days later.

The two-time Olympic champion suggested she might quit the Games after the shock exits, admitting “I don’t know how to handle it”, but it has since been confirmed that she will race in Friday's super-G.

Shiffrin broke down in an interview with NBC after her second early exit in Beijing and, according to a text message sent to Reuters, will not be interviewed in the near future.

"Mikaela (nor her mother/coach Eileen) will not be doing any media for the foreseeable future,” a spokesperson said in a text message reported by Reuters.

“Thank you for respecting her/their space right now."

"Mikaela had a tough start to the Olympics," said Myhrer on discovery+ in Sweden. "I can just imagine how much pressure she's been under the last year going into this Games. All the expectations that everyone has on her is enormous and it must be hard for her.

"What we have to remember is that behind a superstar like Mikaela who is winning and winning - something the media - just take for granted - is just a person with a dream to achieve greatness and who started to ski because they loved it. The victories and the success is not just something that happens, there is hard work and more hard work behind it to keep winning year after year.

"The emotional rollercoaster that these athletes are exposed to is very demanding and combine that with her father’s tragic death in 2020 the amount of things she has to handle is overwhelming and I think she feels like she need to save her energy levels and channel them into her performance.

"I have seen some of the interviews she did and I have to hand it to her, she is a pro on all levels. Even if her dream of gold in the tech events has ended she is standing there and answering on all the questions in what I´ve seen a perfect way - knowing what she really feels in that moment and could say it’s remarkable to say the least that she can keep it together.

"So, all in all, I think this could be good for her in the short term but hard if she wants to keep it that way, because we also have to remember that being an athlete on her level also comes expectations from her surroundings. I totally understand the media's side of this story, but as a former athlete and fellow human, being I say give her some space and remember all the countless hours she actually did spend answering questions. I think that has to be worth something as well."

A spotlight has been fixed on mental health in sport after tennis star Naomi Osaka pulled out of the French Open in May after being threatened with expulsion over a press boycott.

Osaka cited mental health reasons for her decision and said expecting athletes to answer questions after poor results was akin to "kicking a person while they're down".

Gymnast Simone Biles pulled out of four individual Olympic finals at the Tokyo Olympics to protect her mental health after suffering from the so-called ‘twisties’.

Although she returned to compete in the balance beam and win bronze, Biles has since admitted that she should not have competed in Tokyo.

Shiffrin still has decent medal hopes in the super-G and combined, while she is also expected to compete in the downhill. The slalom events are her forte and she last DNFed in consecutive technical races in 2011, when she was 16.

Shiffrin, a three-time overall World Cup champion, trained on the speed warm-up hill on Thursday before her team confirmed she would compete in the super-G.

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