American Shiffrin the golden girl as tearful Germans smash record

FE Team | Published: February 15, 2018 21:14:29

Germany's gold medallists Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot (R) pose on the podium during the medal ceremony for the figure skating pair event at the Pyeongchang Medals Plaza during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang on Thursday. — AFP

PYEONGCHANG, South Korea, Feb 15 (AFP): Skier Mikaela Shiffrin opened her Olympics with victory and figure skaters Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot smashed a world record to grab gold as full Olympic competition resumed on Thursday after days of wind disruption.
The 22-year-old Shiffrin kicked off her bid for multiple titles in Pyeongchang with a storming second run in the giant slalom, ending a nervous wait after it was postponed because of high winds on Monday.
The Sochi 2014 slalom champion from America sank to her knees and dissolved in tears after her powerful descent brought her gold from Norway's Ragnhild Mowinckel by 0.39 seconds.
"I don't know how to explain it. It's crazy. There's so much emotion," Shiffrin said.
Earlier, Aksel Lund Svindal, 35, became the Olympics' oldest alpine ski champion in the men's downhill, with Kjetil Jansrud completing a Norwegian one-two.
"Attacking Viking" Svindal, coming to the end of a stellar career, clocked 1min 40.25sec down the 3km Jeongseon course to hand Norway its first Olympic downhill gold.
"It feels pretty good, I'm extremely happy," said Svindal. "World Cup wins, I've been there a few times and know how that feels, but this is different."