CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin made a promise to herself as she stood at the starting gate at the top of the sun-soaked giant slalom course in Tofane.
“I’m going to do it all here,” she said.
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That’s more than enough, especially for this event, considering the path the American star has taken to qualify for the Milan Cortina Games.
So even though the leaderboard near the finish line had to turn to page two for Shiffrin’s name to appear in 11th place in Sunday’s GS race, the most decorated skier in the history of the sport didn’t consider her finish a disappointment.
Disappointment is being washed away, as she did in Beijing four years ago. Recovering from a harrowing car accident in late 2024 after a punctured abdomen and a shaken confidence during the start of the World Cup in Killington, Vermont, she was left frustrated to wonder if the speed that had once been so effortless would ever return.
What happened during what Shiffrin calls “the greatest GS ski show we’ve had in a long time” didn’t disappoint. If anything, it’s the opposite.
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Yes, Shiffrin ended up outside the top ten. The feel of the snow under her skis and the narrow gap between the silver medalist and the chasers (who didn’t catch Italy’s Federica Brignone that day) were evidence that she was heading in the right direction in Wednesday’s slalom, her best event.
“It means a lot to me to be here now and be up close and personal with the fastest women,” Shiffrin said. “So I’m proud of that.”
Just 0.3 seconds separate Shiffrin from the joint runner-up of Sweden’s Sara Hector and Thea Louise Stjernesund, a razor-thin margin in a race that requires skiers to run two laps.
When Shiffrin won gold at the GS race in PyeongChang eight years ago, the gap between silver and 11th place was about 1.4 seconds. Four years ago in Beijing, it was close to 2 seconds. Three weeks ago at the World Cup event in the Czech Republic, Shiffrin took the GS podium for the first time in two years, clocking a time of over 3 1/2 seconds.
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Shiffrin was there on Sunday. Take a turn here. Turn there. Shiffrin and other of the world’s best skiers typically see courses that are slightly flatter and less technically demanding – almost explicitly designed to create a safe and competitive race – where the difference between a medal and a middle is almost imperceptible.
Shiffrin promised to “learn” after struggling to complete a slalom in the women’s all-around last week when her skis didn’t seem to “glide”. Perhaps all too aware of the perception of decline in the Olympics – the only place she hasn’t won in the last eight years – she did her best to refocus and tune out the noise.
In her mind, that’s what she did. She could feel herself gaining strength from the course. As she sang a second time, with Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing In The Name Of” playing from the speakers, Shiffrin felt like she was in the moment rather than in her head.
“It feels good to push, it’s great,” she said, later adding: “It feels really good to ski hard.”
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Shiffrin’s intensity seems to be building slowly but steadily. She wears bib number 3, a nod to the fact that she has returned to the top seven in the world at GS, a task she considered “challenging” at the start of the season. It was doable, but Shiffrin learned that progress wasn’t linear.
While she continues to dominate in slalom – where she has already claimed her ninth World Cup Series title with two races remaining – GS is a different story. Of course, Shiffrin has a record 22 career GS wins. But she hasn’t won a GS race since late 2023.
Her climb back up the GS rankings was aided by consistent performances. She knows the “lights-out speed” required to reach the podium isn’t as easy as it was when she was at the peak of her powers. It doesn’t matter.
“The task ahead of me in the coming months and years is to try to bring that intensity and enthusiasm and continue to work with the team to find those hundredths of a second it takes to actually win a race,” she said.
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That didn’t happen Sunday beneath the snow-capped peaks of the Dolomites. Maybe on another course, one with a more difficult setting that allowed her to rely on her own experience, things might have gone differently.
Shiffrin didn’t seem particularly interested in the conversation. The layout allows for competitive play. She pointed to the medal stand – where 35-year-old Brignone won her second gold in four days and Hector added silver to the gold she won in Beijing in 2022 – as proof the result was no fluke.
“It’s not like a guy won who shouldn’t have won,” Shiffrin said.
Brignone became the worthy champion. However, behind her was chaos. Shiffrin doesn’t think that’s a bad thing.
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“(We’re all) close, I think that’s how high the level of competition is,” she said. “It’s a great showcase for our sport on the Olympic stage.”
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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
