CORTINA D'AMPEZZO — Mikaela Shiffrin will next hit the slopes still empty-handed after her first event at the Milan Cortina Games.
Racing with Breezy Johnson in the Alpine skiing women’s team combined event, Shiffrin uncharacteristically struggled in the slalom portion, placing 15th out of 18 racers who finished the course. Despite Johnson finishing first in the downhill portion of the race, Shiffrin’s run dropped the duo’s combined time to fourth place — and they missed the podium by .06 seconds.
The U.S. team of Jacqueline Wiles and Paula Moltzan did manage to make the podium, however, winning bronze after a strong showing in both disciplines.
Shiffrin, 30, was racing for the first time in the Olympics on Tuesday. She has been a historically great competitor in the slalom event. In the Alpine Ski World Cup, 71 of Shiffrin’s record 108 victories have come in slalom. She has finished first overall in slalom in three of the last four World Cups.
Shiffrin also has four first-place finishes in slalom in the Alpine World Ski Championships.
But Shiffrin was slow out of the gate Tuesday, erasing the cushion built by Johnson, who also won gold in the individual downhill event on Sunday.
“I'm gonna call it ‘sweetbitter,’ rather than bittersweet, because we got to watch our teammates get a medal, which is incredible,” Shiffrin said. “And I am really happy to kick off my Olympics. It was such an honor to pair with Breezy and to watch her run of downhill this morning.”
Shiffrin added she will learn how to “attack this hill better for the upcoming slalom race,” saying she wasn’t happy with her comfort level in her first race.
Before Shiffrin’s run, Wiles and Moltzan made their jump into the top three.
After Wiles finished fourth in downhill, Moltzan did the same in slalom, and their combined time was good enough to take home bronze. Moltzan’s run was especially impressive given the treacherous nature of the slalom course on Tuesday, as eight of the 26 racers either did not finish or were disqualified.
“Ski racing is a matter of hundredths of a second, like a lot of winter sports, seem to be. We are so grateful to be on the right side of it today,” Moltzan said after. “I think we've had many experiences on the wrong side of it, and to be here and end up with a bronze medal at the Olympics is kind of surreal.”
Added Wiles, who finished fourth in the downhill Sunday: “I think it's going to take a while to really set in. It was a hard day, but I had a lot of amazing people around me, supporting me, and I felt the privilege to get another chance with Paula. And I couldn't be more honored to be her friend and teammate after all the years we've known each other skiing, I think it's a really special moment for both of us.”
Austria’s team of Ariane Raedler and Katharina Huber won gold in the event, while Germany’s Kira Weidle-Winklemann and Emma Aicher took silver.
Rohan Nadkarni reported from Milan and Molly Hunter reported from Cortina d'Ampezzo.
