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1 hour ago
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Mikaela Shiffrin's catharsis didn't arrive quietly.
It arrived in one of the most dominant Olympic skiing performances you'll ever see.
The United States superstar is the best at what she does, except somehow, it hadn't always shown up at the Winter Olympics.
All year long, Shiffrin dominates her competition. But she needed to break out that dominance, particularly at these Games, where she'd struggled immensely.
In the women's slalom competition on Wednesday, that's exactly what happened.
Shiffrin won the event by 1.50 seconds. And for reference, that's a huge amount.
Take this stat from the brilliant reporter Rodger Sherman to sum it all up in mind-blowing fashion:
"Mikaela Shiffrin wins the slalom gold medal by 1.50 seconds. If you add up the winning margins of the winners at the 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022 women's slalom, you get 1.51 seconds."
MORE: A dog stole the show at the finish line of cross country skiing
This wasn't just any gold medal.
This was a gold medal with exclamation points all over it.
Shiffrin had been honest as these Olympics went on. She spoke about simply having bad days on the slopes.
It's still been surprising, though, because Shiffrin doesn't often have bad days on the slopes.
She was due, overdue, immensely due. Wednesday was the day it all came rushing back in her favor.
Shiffrin is back atop the skiing world. A slight detour won't matter any longer. She's golden.
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- Macklin Celebrini is chasing Hooley Smith's 1924 Olympics record
- U.S. women's hockey star's brothers go viral at Olympics
- Controversy and cursing with Canada curling
- Chloe Kim's silver medal has some controversy
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