Winter Olympics: Federica Brignone wins gold again, Mikaela Shiffrin finishes outside top 10 and silver medals shared
Updated 15/02/2026 at 21:50 GMT
American superstar Mikaela Shiffrin disappointed yet again at the 2026 Winter Olympics as she failed to get to grips with the giant slalom course to finish out of the medals. By contrast, Italy's Federico Brignone, fresh off winning the super-G, continued her magical home Games by triumphing in front of the Italian fans. Sweden’s Sara Hector and Norway’s Thea Louise Stjernesund shared the silver.
Watch Brignone's wondrous winning run to seal double gold - 'She wouldn't have dreamt this!'
Video credit: TNT Sports
Italy’s Federica Brignone captured her second gold medal of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics with a stunning victory in the women’s giant slalom.
Less than a year after a horror crash left her with serious injuries on her left leg, including a torn ACL and multiple broken bones, the Italian is now a double Olympic champion.
Brignone added the giant slalom gold to her super-G triumph in what has been a magical home Games for the 35-year-old.
Remarkably, Sweden’s Sara Hector and Norway’s Thea Louise Stjernesund shared the silver after clocking the same time across the two runs.
"This has been a fairytale straight out of the guidebook," TNT Sports expert Charlie Guest said. "This is unreal from her [Brignone]. The nerve, the confidence, the pushing through the barriers.
"She stood in that start gate knowing she had a huge advantage. She’s come into these Games in pain, she’s pushed through so much and she has delivered not once, but twice."
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Watch: 'The dream scenario!' - Brignone revels in wondrous golden double
Video credit: TNT Sports
On a tricky course that caught out some of the biggest names, Brignone aced her first run. She stopped the clock at 1:03.23 to open up a lead of 0.34 seconds over Germany’s Lena Duerr, with Italy’s Sofia Goggia a further 0.12 seconds back in third.
In joint fourth, Albania’s Lara Colturi, Hector and Stjernesund needed to make up three-quarters of a second on their second runs to overhaul Brignone, while USA’s Mikaela Shiffrin was more than a second back.
Elsewhere, Austria’s Julie Scheib and Switzerland’s Camille Rast were also well off the ultimate pace on their opening runs and required something mega to get back into medal contention.
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More Olympic heartbreak for Shiffrin as US superstar misses out on podium
Video credit: TNT Sports
But nobody could deny Brignone. As skiers went out ahead of her for their second runs, most failed to put down times that might threaten her.
Her compatriot Lara Della Mea set the early pace with a time of 1:04.42 but was pipped by Stjernesund and Hector.
Incredibly, Stjernesund and 2022 giant slalom Olympic champion Hector tied each other across both runs. They had already matched each other in the first run and did so again in the second, something Guest said she had never seen before.
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The second-half of the course, in particular, caused problems for many of the skiers. That was especially notable when Shiffrin went out and lost a load of time on her run to the line. After the disappointment of the team combined, she was unable to challenge and finished 11th, nearly a second off top spot.
But the day belonged to Brignone. It was something of a miracle she recovered in time just to compete at Milano Cortina, but she has defied all the odds and rewritten what's possible to achieve her Olympic dream.
"It was written in the stars," TNT Sports commentator Ed Drake said. "It must have been. Nothing was going to get in the way of Federica Brignone taking Olympic gold. It was hers really at the end of last season with the form she had and then to have that horror crash and the race against time to get back.
"She’s had ACL surgery, multiple breaks in her leg, and she’s skiing with such brilliance. Skiing so hard from top to bottom. Just incredible."
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