Mikaela Shiffrin said she felt like she was coming down with something before her first run in the women's slalom. It may have affected her from getting a second medal in PyeongChang.
Shiffrin, who was attempting to defend her gold medal from Sochi, finished the competition in fourth. She was .48 seconds behind the leader after her first run. After her second, she still was .08 seconds behind Switzerland's Wendy Holdener. Sweedish skier Frida Hansdotter took the lead, knocking Shiffrin to third, and then Katharina Gallhuber from Austria finished in third.
That kept Shiffrin off the podium all together.
NBC reported that Shiffrin was "vomiting heavily" just moments before her first run with the competition already underway. They mentioned her struggle with nerves in the past, but after her run, Shiffrin said it felt more like "a virus."
"It was kind of sudden, it kind of felt like a virus. Less about nerves," she told NBC's Heather Cox.
She said she would take one of her famous naps before her second run, but said she would not hold back when it came to race time.
Shiffrin has battled with nerves and has been close to vomiting before races in the past.
The Norovirus has been reportedly going around in PyeongChang. Cases of the virus continue to rise. There are about 200 people who are infected, according to reports. The Norovirus is highly contagious and includes symptoms of diarrhea, stomach pain, vomiting and nausea. The infected have mostly been staff and security members. There is no known Olympic athlete with the virus.
It was speculated that her illness could be related, but she debunked that.
Shiffrin told the media after the race that it was likely her nerves and that "I'm not contagious."
