Winter Olympics 2026: Mikaela Shiffrin thanks fans for support in 'incredible moments' in Cortina, dedicates slalom gold medal to late father
Updated 19/02/2026 at 17:01 GMT
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Skiing icon Mikaela Shiffrin thanked fans for their support in the "incredible moments" of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milano Cortina, while she also dedicated the gold medal to her late father. Shiffrin left Beijing without a medal four years ago and was still not back on the podium after her first two events here. But she overcame significant pressure to win gold in the slalom.
Relive the best of the commentary as Shiffrin soars to slalom gold
Video credit: TNT Sports
Skiing sensation Mikaela Shiffrin thanked fans for their support in the "incredible moments" of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
Shiffrin battled against her demons from Beijing to finally end her Olympic medal drought at the Tofane Alpine Skiing centre, winning Wednesday’s slalom by a mammoth 1.50s.
It capped a rollercoaster Games for the 30-year-old, whose 15th-placed finish in the slalom leg of the team combined event saw her and Breezy Johnson, who was first in the downhill run, finish fourth and miss out on a medal.
Shiffrin then finished 11th in the giant slalom, leaving the slalom, her preferred event, as her last chance of medalling at these Games.
She duly delivered, despite all the pressure, to win her fourth Olympic medal and third gold, and the most decorated Alpine skier of all time thanked her team and supporters in a heartfelt message.
"Hi everyone. Wow, that was a crazy day," she said to TNT Sports.
"I’m so grateful, so grateful for the support of my team and my family and everybody who did so much work to get me to the start where I could believe in this and do this.
"It is also very much something that you have earned with your support of ski racing and all of the athletes.
"These have been incredible moments in these Olympics, and I personally am so grateful to you for every minute of support and encouragement that you have given.
"That’s the main thing that makes a difference, so thank you."
What people saw of Shiffrin was an elite athlete battling her sporting demons, but the American was struggling behind the scenes far more than anyone could understand.
Shiffrin lost her father unexpectedly in 2020, when she was 24, and she then took a year out of the sport.
Then the 2022 Beijing Games happened, in which Shiffrin crashed out of both the giant slalom and the slalom, leaving the Chinese capital without a medal.
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Understandably, she was still suffering mentally with the loss of her father and in 2024, she was seriously injured in a crash in Killington.
Shiffrin admitted that the loss of her father was still affecting her mental wellbeing in Cortina and she was "scared" of the moment she returned to the Olympic podium without him by her side - before dedicating the medal to her late father.
She said: "For my dad, who didn't get to see this. This was a moment I had dreamed about. I have also been very scared of this moment.
"Everything in life you do after you lose someone you love is like a new experience.
"It is 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 and maybe today was the first time that I could actually accept this reality.
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'A spiritual moment' - Shiffrin emotional on late father after third Olympic gold
Video credit: SNTV
"Instead of thinking I would be in this moment without him, to take the moment to be silent with him."
TNT Sports commentator Ed Drake praised Shiffrin for speaking about her troubles and sympathised with the 108-time World Cup winner.
He said: "It just shows you what else is going on, they’re not just sporting robots, they are people that live through the same stuff as everybody else, but she has got to try and deliver that on a world stage going through all the emotions.
"She picked up that world title alongside her father, they travelled all together and he was very much part of the Shiffrin machine.
"She then obviously had to learn to deal without him and then try to recreate that moment from 12 years ago, without her dad.
"It was amazing and I think it is so nice and privileged that we get to see such a raw, real moment that isn’t just about sport."
Watch every event of Milano Cortina 2026 live on discovery+. Available across all subscription plans, starting at £3.99.
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