Miserable day on slopes for American stars Shiffrin, Gerard

By BERNIE WILSON
AP Sports Writer

BEIJING (AP) — It was a miserable day on the mountains outside of Beijing for American stars Mikaela Shiffrin and Red Gerard. Shiffrin’s opening race in the Beijing Olympics ended quickly with a rare mistake and a rare Did Not Finish. Shiffrin was favored to defend her gold medal in the giant slalom but instead crashed out a few seconds and five gates into the race. She lost control coming around a left-turn gate and fell onto her hip on a course known as The Ice River at the Yanqing Alpine Skiing Center. Gerard was the defending gold medalist in men’s slopestyle but was knocked off the podium.