CHARLOTTE, N.C. — If anyone knows what struggling U.S. Olympic skier Mikaela Shiffrin is going through right now, it’s former American speed skater Dan Jansen.
Much like Shiffrin, Jansen crashed out twice in a single Winter Olympics in 1988, and due to that and other tragic circumstances picked up the nickname “The Heartbreak Kid.”
Jansen was glued to a TV in his Mooresville, N.C., home Wednesday when Shiffrin skidded past a slalom gate only five seconds into her race and failed to finish for the second time in these 2022 Olympics. Her shocking miss resulted in another premature exit in Beijing for the gold-medal favorite. After missing the gate, Shiffrin sat down, alone, on the side of the course and bowed her head before her teammates came over to console her.
