Mikaela Shiffrin, recognized as the most accomplished American skier in history, missed another opportunity for a medal at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games.
On Sunday, her Olympic medal journey continued to be unfruitful as she placed 11th in the women’s giant slalom, finishing with a time of 2:14.42.
Italy’s Federica Brignone claimed the gold medal with a time of 2:13.50. Meanwhile, Sweden’s Sara Hector and Thea Louise Stanesson shared the silver medal.
Shiffrin, aged 30, managed to secure seventh place in her second run, but couldn’t improve her overall time enough for a spot on the podium.
Still, this result was notably better than her experience four years prior when she couldn’t finish her first run while trying to defend her gold medal from the 2018 PyeongChang Games.
Her fellow American teammates, Paula Molzahn and Nina O’Brien, ended up in 15th and 20th places, respectively, while AJ Hart did not progress to the second run.
This marked the second occasion this winter that Shiffrin hasn’t reached the podium. Earlier in the week, she had the chance to earn a medal in the new team combined event with Breezy Johnson, but Shiffrin recorded one of the slower slalom times, leading to a fourth-place finish for the duo, despite having won gold in their previous team event at last year’s world championships.
This is Shiffrin’s fourth time at the Olympics. She already has three Olympic medals under her belt, including two golds, but hasn’t won a medal since earning silver in the combined event at the 2018 Winter Games.
She will have another opportunity to compete for a medal later this week in the slalom competition.
