French skier dating Mikaela Shiffrin sent home after critical comments about his team

• French Alpine skier Mathieu Faivre was sent home from the Winter Olympics for critical comments of his team.
• After finishing seventh, behind three teammates, Mathieu, who dates Mikaela Shiffrin, said he only cared about his own result, which he called “a slap in the face.”
• Mathieu later said in an Instagram post that he was caught up in the heat of the moment.

French Alpine skier Mathieu Faivre was sent home from the Winter Olympics for critical comments following the men’s giant slalom event.

Faivre, who is also dating U.S. skier Mikaela Shiffrin, finished seventh, with three of his countryman finishing ahead of him.

Asked after the event about his performance and his team’s success, Faivre said he was “disgusted” with the result and said he was only racing for himself.

“I’m here to race for myself only,” Faivre said. “I felt I was skiing well in the second run but when I saw where I’d finished it was like a slap in the face.”

The director for French men’s skiing confirmed that Faivre was sent home for “disciplinary reasons,” according to BBC.

In an Instagram post, Faivre wrote he did not mean to be critical of his teammates.

“Skiing is an individual sport that is practiced as a team,” he wrote (via Google). “However, when we are in the starting gate, only our individual race and our own performance is important. So yes, when it came time to give my feelings on my race, some 10 minutes after crossing the finish line, only my performance and my failure were present.”