BEIJING — On a lonely stretch of snow next to orange safety netting that lines the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre, Mikaela Shiffrin searched for the answer.
The world's best female skier sat on the side of the steep course known as the Ice River, head buried in her arms, skis and poles discarded nearby, and wondered how the Winter Olympics had gone so wrong.
She had been cast as one of the faces of the Games, featured in television commercials and on magazine covers, as cameras focused on her chase for medals in five individual events.
