History just got rewritten on the snow-covered slopes of the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre. American skiing legend Mikaela Shiffrin stormed to victory in the women’s slalom at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, securing her third Olympic gold medal and her fourth Olympic medal overall.
Twelve years after her breakthrough slalom triumph at Sochi 2014 — when she was just 18 — Shiffrin, now 30, delivered a masterclass to end an eight-year Olympic gold drought. Her last individual Olympic gold came in the giant slalom at PyeongChang 2018. After a challenging start to these Games with no podium finishes in earlier events, the pressure was immense in her signature discipline — and she rose to it spectacularly.
Shiffrin posted the fastest time in the first run and held her nerve in the second, crossing the line with a combined time of 1:39.10. She crushed the field, finishing a commanding 1.50 seconds ahead of Switzerland’s Camille Rast (silver) and 1.71 seconds clear of Sweden’s Anna Swenn-Larsson (bronze).
This victory not only reclaimed her throne in slalom but also etched her name deeper into the record books: Shiffrin now stands alone as the American Alpine skier with the most Olympic gold medals, surpassing the previous tie with Ted Ligety and Andrea Mead Lawrence.
The emotion was palpable as Shiffrin crossed the finish line, pumping her fists and soaking in the cheers from the crowd and her team. After years of dominance on the World Cup circuit — where she holds the all-time record with over 100 wins — this Olympic redemption feels like the crowning achievement in an already legendary career.
“History continues,” as the moment was aptly captioned. 👑🇺🇸🥇
With the slalom title now hers, Shiffrin proves once again why she’s the most successful Alpine skier of her generation — and perhaps of all time.
