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Feb. 16 (UPI) -- American skier Mikaela Shiffrin characterized her medal-less 2022 Winter Games as "turbulent," but boosted her confidence and medal chances Wednesday with the fastest training time for one of her final events. Shiffrin blazed down the National Alpine Skiing Center slopes for a time of 1:33.56 in the first downhill training session for the alpine combined on the speed course in Yanqing, China.
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"At this point, there has been a lot of emotional turbulence this entire Games," Shiffrin told NBC on Wednesday. "But there have also been a lot of really special moments for me. The special moments have really been outside of my own medal potential."
She added: "I've celebrated the medals of my friends, competitors and rivals and my boyfriend. There have been some incredible moments that really did not revolve around me, and I'm inspired by those moments."
Fourteen skiers participated in the first training session for main event, which is composed of a slalom and a downhill run Thursday in Beijing.
The slalom consists of skiers making wide turns and changing direction at high speeds as they fly down a slope. They often swipe gates -- made of thin poles and flags -- as they navigate the course and take the quickest routes possible to the bottom of the hill.
Skiers must pass between the gates on alternating sides in the events. Those who miss a gate are disqualified, unless they go back uphill and pass through the gate, which adds to total time.
The downhill features much faster speeds as skiers avoid contact with the gates, which are spread farther apart and primarily serve as route markers, to clock the fastest time down the slope.
The downhill run airs Wednesday night on NBC. The slalom portion of the event airs live early Thursday morning on USA and re-airs Thursday afternoon on NBC.
Shiffrin was disqualified from the individual giant slalom and slalom -- her first and best events. She finished 18th in the women's downhill and ninth in the super-G.
The three-time Olympic medalist said she is fueled by successful runs she witnessed from other elite female competitors and her boyfriend, Norwegian alpine skier Aleksander Aamodt Kilde.
Kilde won silver in the men's combined and bronze in the super-G in Beijing.
Shiffrin, who previously said she was "heartbroken" and "disappointed" after her performances, continues to share words of encouragement for rival skiers on her social media platforms.
"Incredible performance from these women," she wrote Tuesday on her Instagram story. That post featured a photo of medalists Corrine Suter of Switzerland and Sofia Goggia of Italy and Nadio Delago of Italy.
She also commended Goggia for her ability to rebound from a crash last month in training. The world's No. 4 alpine skier, Goggia won silver in the downhill in Beijing.
"I hope that everybody shows [Goggia] all of the support that she deserves because it was a medal that was very, very, very hard-fought," Shiffrin said in a statement, released by the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team.
Shiffrin announced earlier this week that she would participate in an additional two events, the alpine combined and the mixed team parallel slalom.
If she stays healthy and completes the six races she entered, she'll tie Slovakia's Petra Vlhova for the most competition participations by an alpine skier in a single Winter Games.
Vlhova, the No. 2 alpine skier in the world, won gold in the slalom in Beijing, but dropped out of additional events due to an ankle injury.
Vlhova's absence, along with Shiffrin's increased familiarity with the slopes and renewed confidence could lead to the Americans' first podium appearance in Beijing.
It also could be her most likely chance to avoid an empty-handed return to the United States.
"I'm trying to take the happiest feeling I have from these Games and take it into [Wednesday night in the United States] because I think it will be a really wonderful day to race," Shiffrin told NBC.
"I know it's going to be fun to ski this track one more time."
Shiffrin, 26, won gold in the slalom at the 2014 Winter Games. She earned gold and silver medals in the respective giant slalom and combined events at the 2018 Winter Games.
Switzerland's Michelle Gisin, the world's No. 10 alpine skier, won gold in the combined at the 2018 Winter Games. Gisin finished exactly one second behind Shiffrin in downhill training for the combined.
Shiffrin's time was 0.93 faster than Wendy Holdener of Switzerland, who won bronze in the combined in 2018 in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
"I felt much more comfortable with my speed than I did yesterday," Shiffrin said. "You sort of break those barriers. Once you break those barriers, you remember that feeling."
Shiffrin will participate in the downhill segment of the combined at 9:30 p.m. EST Wednesday on NBC. The combined event concludes with the slalom, which airs live at 1 a.m. Thursday on USA and re-airs at 4:30 p.m. Thursday on NBC.
The alpine mixed team parallel event airs at 10 p.m. EST Friday on USA.
