02/18/26 10:06:00
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02/18 10:04 CST US star Mikaela Shiffrin becomes 3-time Olympic champion with
dominant slalom win
US star Mikaela Shiffrin becomes 3-time Olympic champion with dominant slalom
win
By STEVE DOUGLAS
AP Sports Writer
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) --- Mikaela Shiffrin closed her eyes, gave a deep
breath and took a big step back onto the top of an Olympic podium.
The American skiing standout was a gold medalist at the Winter Games once again
--- and she couldn't quite believe it.
Shiffrin put in two dominant runs in gorgeous conditions amid the jagged peaks
of the Dolomites to win the women's slalom by a massive 1.50 seconds, ending
her eight-year medal drought at the Winter Games and showing why she is widely
regarded as the greatest Alpine skier of all time.
In emotional scenes after the race, the 30-year-old Shiffrin was embraced by
Camille Rast of Switzerland, who took silver, and bronze-medalist Anna Swenn
Larsson before fighting back tears as she approached her mom and coach, Eileen,
for a long, deep hug next to the finish area.
She also said she was thinking about her father, Jeff, who died at the age of
65 in an accident at the family home in Colorado in February 2020.
"This was a moment I have dreamed about --- I've also been very scared of this
moment," Shiffrin said. "Everything in life that you do after you lose someone
you love is like a new experience. It's like being born again.
"And I still have so many moments where I resist this. I don't want to be in
life without my dad," she added, her voice trembling. "And maybe today was the
first time that I could actually accept this, like, reality."
The victory made Shiffrin the first American skier to win three Alpine golds
and was the third-largest margin of victory in a women's Olympic slalom --- the
event she won as a fresh-faced teenager in Sochi in 2014 to underline her
status as a skiing star.
Twelve years later, and having gone through so many highs and lows on and off
the course, she delivered again in her favorite race as her skiing career came
full circle.
"Maybe," she added, "just today, I realized what happened in Sochi. It's crazy."
A the medal ceremony, she shook both of her hands as she was about to receive
her gold medal, clearly overcome by emotion. When it was placed around her
neck, she looked down at it almost in disbelief.
Maybe it was a release of all the pressure on Shiffrin after she failed to win
an Olympic medal in eight races since adding gold and silver to her collection
in Pyeongchang in 2018.
A nightmarish 0-for-6 performance in Beijiing was followed in Cortina d'Ampezzo
this year by a fourth-place finish with Breezy Johnson in the team combined, in
which Shiffrin placed 15th in the slalom portion, and an 11th place in the
giant slalom.
It was fodder for the "keyboard warriors," Shiffrin acknowledged, but she
ignored all of them
That's all in the past.
Shiffrin has now won three golds and a silver at the Olympics to add to her
record total on World Cup wins --- it's 108 and counting, including 71 in
slalom. There's also world titles in slalom (four), giant slalom and super-G to
fill out arguably the greatest career in Alpine racing.
"In another league," was how Larsson put it.
Shiffrin led by 0.82 seconds after the first run on a mostly flat course that
Team USA officials described to her over the radio as a "high-tempo ripper."
There was one wobble when she struck a gate and for a fraction of a second, it
appeared she was headed for another Olympic disappointment.
Not this time.
She snapped back into form to post a time, in the No. 7 bib, no one could get
near.
"When I saw one second (behind) after the first run," Rast said, "I was like,
?OK, the gold is gone.'"
Shiffrin's second run was also smooth, getting through the tough top section
without a hitch and pushing through the slower middle section. When she leaned
forward to cross the line, Shiffrin had the largest margin of victory in any
Olympic Alpine skiing event since 1998.
"I just wanted to feel those two runs --- I'm proud but I'm also very
grateful," Shiffrin said.
"A big thing I've been working on with my team and my psychologist is, like,
you have what you need within yourself. And I can't say that for giant slalom
yet. I can't always say that in the start gate. But in the start gate today, I
could."
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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