Shiffrin Wins Gold Medal in Olympic Slalom
Mikaela Shiffrin won the gold medal in women's slalom at the Olympics on Wednesday afternoon, making history by becoming the most decorated U.S. alpine skier in Olympic history, holding the record for the most Olympic gold medals (three) and tying skiing legend Julia Mancuso for most Olympic medals by a U.S. woman in alpine skiing with four.
Shiffrin attacked from the start, setting the tone in the first run to take the lead and followed up on it with a clean, confident second run on a demanding course that challenged the field. Her combined time put her more than a second ahead of Swiss skier Camille Rast, who claimed silver, while Sweden’s Anna Swenn Larsson rounded out the podium in bronze.
Shiffrin's gold silenced the critics and thrilled her fans and supporters. She is a force to be reckoned with in World Cup racing, having accumulated 108 World Cup wins and shattering the previous record for 86 victories set by Ingemar Stenmark, and although she came into Cortina with three Olympic medals, she struggled at the Beijing Olympics with DNFs in three events. The win proves her grit and determination to keep pushing, and cements her legacy as the greatest of all time, with four medals to her name: three golds (slalom, 2014; giant slalom, 2018; slalom, 2026) and one silver (combined, 2018).
"I think there's many people who can take that title (the GOAT) and many were skiing today," said Shiffrin. "This is a sport where we get to share the beautiful feelings. Even if one can be on the top of the podium, we share it together."
And Shiffrin didn’t only win Gold in Cortina, she absolutely won by a massive 1.5 second margin. In fact, her 1.5-second victory is the biggest winning margin in Olympic slalom since Swiss skier Vreni Schneider won by 1.68 seconds at the 1998 Games in Calgary. Her 1.5-second win nearly exceeded the combined winning margins of the 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022 Olympic women's slalom races combined (1.51 seconds). Additionally, at 30 years and 342 days, she became the second-oldest woman to win Olympic slalom gold, 12 years after becoming the youngest. And, she became the oldest American woman to win Olympic gold in alpine skiing.
Team USA’s Paula Moltzan finished in eighth, with the fastest second run of the day, attacking from a disappointing 29th place result after first run. The race capped off a stellar Olympic Games that included a medal in the team combined with teammate Jackie Wiles.
"I think you have to experience the emotions as they come because if you keep them inside, it's going to hold you back." said Moltzan. "A lot of emotion comes from feeling like you let your family down that traveled so far to cheer you on, so for me I just let it all out and then move forward."
AJ Hurt was 19th and was thrilled with her result.
"I'm happy with finding the finish two months in a row," said Hurt. "It's been a while since I've done that. The second run was pretty turny so it wasn't really my style but still happy with my skiing and happy to be here."
Nina O'Brien did not finish the first run.
The women’s slalom marked the final alpine race of the Olympic program, bringing the Games to an emotional close. Over two weeks of competition, Team USA accumulated four medals in alpine skiing: Breezy Johnson won gold in downhill, Moltzan and Wiles took bronze in the team combined, Ryan Cochran-Siegle was silver in the super-G and Shiffrin golden in slalom.
RESULTS
Women's Olympic slalom
