Shiffrin and her women's team combined partner Breezy Johnson were favored for gold
Michael Kappeler/picture alliance via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Mikaela Shiffrin surprisingly struggled in her slalom run in the first-ever women’s team combined event at the 2026 Winter Olympics
- Her teammate, Breezy Johnson, put them in first place with her downhill run earlier in the day
- Shiffrin finished 15th overall in the slalom portion
Mikaela Shiffrin had a surprisingly lackluster race to keep her and teammate Breezy Johnson off the podium in the first-ever Olympic women's team combined event Tuesday, but it secured bronze for their fellow Team USA duo Jacqueline Wiles and Paula Moltzan.
Johnson, 30, had put her and Shiffrin, also 30, in first with her speedy downhill run, but Shiffrin struggled to find her speed during her slalom run on Tuesday, Feb. 10. Their combined score earned them a fourth-place finish and knocked them out of a medal, shocking the world considering Shiffrin's typical dominance.
With Shiffrin's fumbled run, the final of the day, their teammates Wiles and Moltzan captured bronze and celebrated on the podium, jumping for joy.
Stefano RELLANDINI / AFP via Getty
The 2026 Milan Cortina Games mark the debut of the alpine skiing combined event. In this new format, two athletes from the same nation compete, one in a single downhill run and the other in a single slalom run, and then their scores are combined for the final result.
Johnson — who won gold in the women's downhill event on Sunday — and Shiffrin had won the world title last winter in the 2025 FIS World Alpine Ski Championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, where the combined event first debuted, and were expected to repeat in Cortina.
Johnson said Sunday that she's "really excited for the team combined" after her gold medal win. "I'm excited to get another crack down the slope. I think it could be a really good event for us."
After Johnson's first gold medal win, the skiing star revealed that her USA teammate Lindsey Vonn — who suffered a horrific crash in her run just one week after rupturing her ACL — was cheering for her from the helicopter after being evacuated from the mountain to a nearby hospital, where Vonn underwent emergency surgery on her leg.
“Her coach said she was cheering for me in the helicopter, so I hope for the best for her," Johnson told reporters, adding that she hopes Vonn's injury isn't "too bad."
"My heart aches for her. It’s such a brutal sport sometimes," Johnson said of her teammate.
To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, come to people.com to check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. Watch the Milan Cortina Olympics and Paralympics, beginning Feb. 6, on NBC and Peacock.
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