Title favourite Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States failed to finish the first run for women's giant slalom on Monday, dropping out of the battle for a medal.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist lost control and fell at the fifth turn. Not much damage was caused as she walked through the mixed zones under her own power.

"It's hard to know exactly without video for sure," said the defending champion, adding that the miss-timing of pressuring could be the cause.

She also expressed her disappointment in missing a chance to ski on the course, named "Ice River" at the National Alpine Skiing in Yanqing competition zone.

"I mean there's a huge disappointment, not even counting medals, but just that's a really fun hill and really good conditions," said the 25-year-old.

22 out of 82 fell in the first run, where the snow was described by many skiers as "responsive and hard".

"The snow is incredible to ski on. it's just really nice but if you do any small errors you really can't get away with it," said Shiffrin.

Slovakia's Petra Vlhova, Shiffrin's major rival before the race, ranked 17th after the first run.