Tallulah Proulx, the Philippines' youngest Winter Olympian at 17, bows out of 2026 Milano Cortina as 50th in the slalom event. Alpine skiing great Mikaela Shiffrin returns to the top with gold.
Tallulah Proulx, the Philippines' youngest Winter Olympian at 17 years old, successfully ends her Olympic debut by finishing 50th in slalom on Wednesday. US great Mikaela Shiffrin wins gold--her first Olympic medal since 2018.
Proulx, the Philippines' sole female Winter Olympian so far, was one of the 53 skiers who completed the two runs at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre. 42 did not finish.
Starting from the 94th spot, the US-based Proulx completed Run 1 with a time of 1:02.93, jumping to the 61st spot. She raced 1:05.55 in Run 2 for a total combined time of 2:08.48.
SHIFFRIN BACK ON TOP
Meanwhile, US great Mikaela Shiffrin won women's slalom gold and her first Olympic medal since 2018 in the final Alpine ski race of the Milano Cortina Games.
Switzerland's Camille Rast took silver and Sweden's Anna Swenn Larsson the bronze.
Shiffrin, the most successful World Cup skier of all time dominated the first run and did not hold back in the second either as she beat Rast by a combined 1.5 seconds. She was the overwhelming favourite after winning seven of eight World Cup slaloms this season but the lack of medals after two events, along with a blank in Beijing four years ago, had ramped up the pressure.
The 2014 Olympic slalom champion made clear it was back to business right from the outset, leading by 0.82 after the first run.
Germany's Lena Duerr was the sole skier to come within a second of her time in that run but her hopes evaporated in a split second on the decisive leg after she straddled the first gate out of the hut.
Sweden's Cornelia Oehlund had been third after the first run, albeit a second off the pace, but she too was unable to convert that into a medal after breaking a ski pole and failing to finish.
END OF PH CAMPAIGN
Overall, it was a successful campaign for Proulx, as she completed the giant slalom in 52nd place.
[ALSO READ: PH's Proulx ends giant slalom at 52nd, Brignone completes Olympic golden double]
Her compatriot, Francis Ceccarelli, finished 54th in the giant slalom but failed to finish in the slalom event because of the rough conditions.
They are the fifth and sixth alpine skiers sent by the Philippines in the history of the Winter Olympics.
(With reports from Reuters)