Mikaela Shiffrin breaks eight-year Olympic drought with brilliant slalom gold

The American went eight races without an Olympic medal before triumphing in her favourite discipline on Wednesday SportWinter OlympicsMikaela Shiffrin breaks eight-year Olympic drought with brilliant slalom goldThe American went eight races without an Olympic medal before triumphing in her favourite discipline on WednesdayFlo Clifford at the Tofane Alpine Centre Wednesday 18 February 2026 13:39 GMTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popoveropen image in galleryUSA's Mikaela Shiffrin competes in the women's slalom event (AFP via Getty Images)Your support helps us to tell the storyRead moreSupport NowFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreAlpine skiing great Mikaela Shiffrin won her first Winter Olympics gold medal since Pyeongchang 2018 with a peerless performance in the slalom, her best discipline, to triumph at Milano-Cortina 2026.Shiffrin has banked 71 of her 108 World Cup wins in the extremely technical event, but she has failed to replicate that dominance at the Olympics, failing to win a medal in the six races she entered in Beijing and finishing 0.08 seconds off the slalom podium in Pyeongchang.But after missing the podium in the giant slalom on Sunday, as well as only fourth in the alpine combined with Breezy Johnson, she put those ghosts to rest on Wednesday with an imperious display in Cortina d’Ampezzo, setting the fastest time on the first run - 47.13 seconds, 0.82 seconds quicker than her nearest challenger - and extending her winning margin to 1.5 seconds on the second run for a total time of 1:40.60.open image in galleryUnited States' Mikaela Shiffrin at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's slalom race (AP)Switzerland’s Camille Rast won the silver, with Sweden’s Anna Swenn-Larsson in bronze a further 0.21 seconds behind.It is her first Olympic title since gold in the giant slalom in 2018, and comes 12 years after she became the youngest-ever Olympic champion in slalom as an 18-year-old prodigy in Sochi 2014.The event took a dramatic turn in the second run with each athlete rising to each new marker; Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener snatched the lead from Austrian maestro Katharina Truppe, before Swenn-Larsson catapulted to the top of the leaderboard. open image in galleryMikaela Shiffrin of Team United States competes during the Women's Slalom Run (Getty Images)Switzerland then took top spot again, through Rast, who put two-tenths of a second between her and Swenn-Larsson. But Shiffrin relegated the Swiss to silver, coming home to win and making a statement through the 1.5-second margin.Embraced by Rast and Swenn-Larsson at the finish line, the relief for Shiffrin was palpable, reaffirming her greatness on the biggest stage.“[I was] a little bit on the limit,” Shiffrin told NBC after her first run, before describing it as “really clean.” And the second run was emphatic and executed without any hint of nerves.More followsMore aboutMikaela ShiffrinAlpine SkiingJoin our commenting forumJoin thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their repliesCommentsMost popularPopular videosBulletinRead next