Winter Olympics 2026: Mikaela Shiffrin BANISHES Olympic demons with stunning slalom gold after previous heartbreaks
Updated 18/02/2026 at 14:55 GMT
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American superstar Mikaela Shiffrin has won her first Olympic medal in eight years after triumphing in the women's slalom on Wednesday. Shiffrin had been enduring a torrid run in Olympics but finally broke her duck at Milano Cortina. She finished 1.50 seconds ahead of silver medallist Cami Rast of Switzerland, with Anna Swenn Larsson of Sweden taking bronze.
Watch: Shiffrin overcome with emotion after winning slalom gold
Video credit: TNT Sports
Skiing icon Mikaela Shiffrin ended her Olympics drought with a first medal in eight years with a dominant triumph in the women's slalom on Wednesday.
Shiffrin had been struggling to reach the podium again and for a skier as dominant as she is on the World Cup circuit, as the most decorated alpiner skier of all time, her Olympic failures seemed to be a mental issue.
At Milano Cortina, she finished fourth in the team combined event, finishing 15th in the slalom leg, after Breezy Johnson had finished first in the downhill.
She finished 11th in the giant slalom but back in her preferred event the slalom, in which she has won the World Cup nine times since 2013, she appeared her usual self and blew away the rest of the field.
The 30-year-old led German Lena Duerr by a healthy 0.82 seconds after the first leg, meaning she came out last in the second run, just needing to repeat her first go to secure her third Olympic gold medal.
Shiffrin did just that and after disasters suffered by Duerr and Cornelia Oehlund immediately before her, she ended up with a winning margin of 1.50 seconds over Switzerland's Cami Rast, with Anna Swenn Larsson of Sweden taking bronze.
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Shiffrin showed 'different energy' to seal slalom gold after Beijing heartbreak
Video credit: TNT Sports
The fact Shiffrin was able to put those Olympic demons to bed was perhaps even more impressive considering the horrific failures of Duerr and Oehlund in the two runs directly before hers.
Oehlund suffered the most unfortunate of fates as her ski pole broke in half, causing her to lose balance and eventually fail to finish when she had every chance of a medal.
For Duerr, it was possibly even worse, with the German in a strong position to take silver and just needing to get down the mountain but immediately colliding with the first pole, seeing her second run, and medal chances over immediately as a result.
Shiffrin made history with her triumph too, becoming only the second female slalom skier to win a second Winter Olympic gold medal, following in the footsteps of Vreni Schneider, who won gold in 1988 and 1994.
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TNT Sports pundit and two-time Olympic gold medallist Tina Maze never considered that Shiffrin could possibly suffer the same fate as in Beijing four years ago, where she failed to finish.
She said: "I think her story is so big, so long. She has dominated this sport, especially in slalom, for such a long time.
"And coming here, having this level of skiing, already in her first run she was completely in her own league.
"She was really calm today and that’s why I wasn’t nervous at all, I knew she has this, and I really believed she could manage it; not like what happened in Beijing. This was a different energy and different spirits. Great job, Mikaela.
"It’s such a long road from her first gold in Sochi now to this one, it’s a long period, a long, long time for her and her own team, her mum, her coach - she has such woman power in her team.
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Mikaela Shiffrin went out of the gate last in the second run and won by over 1.5 seconds.
Image credit: Getty Images
"I have been skiing with her and her team after her injury here in Cortina. It was very hard for her to come back to Cortina, but after today, she will have a better memory of this place - it’s just incredible to see this and to witness it happen.
"The crowd had two athletes battling for the gold and silver, because Paula Moltzan really nailed it but did some mistakes.
"Then we saw the other girls make mistakes too. We saw Lena Duerr struggle with the first gate too and her story ended so fast, so it was quite a challenge to be here."
Watch every event of Milano Cortina 2026 live on discovery+. Available across all subscription plans, starting at £3.99.
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