The start of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games have not been kind to the United States' star alpine skier, Mikaela Shiffrin.
Crashing out of the giant slalom and the slalom — the first time in her career that she has failed to finish consecutive races — Shiffrin was left questioning all that she had known about the sport in which she has achieved so much success.
So doubtful was she about herself that the 26-year-old was seriously thinking about pulling out of Friday's super-G race on safety grounds.
However, Shiffrin appears to have re-found her rhythm and, more importantly, her faith in her undoubted abilities.
A ninth-place finish might not be commensurate with a 73-time World Cup winner of Shiffrin's calibre, but this was about more than finishing in the medals.
It was about finishing full stop and using that time on the snow to rediscover her competitive edge.
"It felt really nice to ski that today," she said, having finished 0.79 seconds behind Swiss winner, Lara Gut-Behrami.
"The track itself is beautiful, and it's sunny, and the snow is amazing. Coming back out and getting the chance to race again was just the perfect thing to do, actually."
Shiffrin, a self-described skiing obsessive, said that she was "at a loss" after the double disappointment of the slalom and giant slalom and that she simply didn't know how to handle it.
She even said that failing to finish the giant slalom was something she would "never get over".
The impact of those DNFs saw the 26-year-old question whether or not it was even safe for her to race Friday, such was her mental state.
"The track itself is not something crazy challenging. It's just, after the last week, there's been a lot of emotional fatigue," she said.
"But, when we got out today, I just felt a little bit more settled, a little bit quieter, trying to keep some calmness and just trying to focus on the task at hand so I could put my attention where I wanted and ski the hill and the course properly."
Shiffrin, who is ranked fifth in the World Cup standings for super-G, said that finishing in the medals was not something she expected and that the relief in finishing was more than enough to help her re-establish her faith in her abilities.
"I just skied strong, and it's a really big relief to be here now in the finish, having skied a run well," she said.
"I wasn't skiing safe or anything, but I also did get to the finish and that's really nice for my heart, to know that it's not totally abandoning everything I thought I knew about the sport."
Shiffrin came into these Games as one of the major stars of the US team, a status amplified by another incredibly strong World Cup season in which she has finished on the podium 10 times, helping her overall tally to a whopping 116 medal finishes.
It's that record that the three-time Olympic medallist said means her performances so far at this Games have been a failure, despite her fraught relationship with the pressure that comes with being a favourite at the Games.
"But I do consider it failure. I think a lot of people do.
"It's just tough to see that word in the headline of an article, and it feels like clickbait to say 'crashes out, fails, disappoints the world, chokes'.
"They're just harsh words, but I've finally come to terms with that being a little bit part of what we're doing here."
She said that, despite her "failure" in her first two events, the support she has received has been incredibly surprising.
"I wouldn't have expected so much support and understanding in a situation where I failed, twice, to do the job that I am supposed to do.
"A lot of athletes have said before [that] pressure's a privilege, and it truly is. To be in the position that I come to the Olympics and I'm a contender, and actually expected to medal in multiple events.
"But it's an enormous letdown when it doesn't happen.
"I can go back and say I've won medals before in my career and that's wonderful, but it doesn't take away any hurt or disappointment from these races. I think it's possible to feel both proud of a career and sad for the moment you're in."
Shiffrin still has the downhill and combined event yet to race at this year's Games.
