Mikaela Shiffrin’s Olympic nightmare goes on after third failure to finish

• US skier on course for medal before crashing out in combined
• Devastated Shiffrin labels herself biggest joke of the Games'

Mikaela Shiffrin's nightmarish Olympics spilled into Thursday when she was unable to complete the slalom leg of the women's combined, the latest disappointment in a Beijing Games that alpine skiing's biggest winner would sooner forget.

The 26-year-old American star appeared on course for a redemptive medal on the last day of individual competition in Yanqing after clocking the fifth-best time in the morning's downhill portion, only 0.56sec behind halfway leader Christine Scheyer of Austria and ahead of a gaggle of contenders including the Swiss pair of Michelle Gisin (by 0.13sec) and Wendy Holdener (0.43) along with Italy's Federica Brignone (0.44).