U.S. alpine skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin turned heads on Wednesday with her stellar performance in the women’s slalom final. The 30-year-old also drew the attention of the Olympics after she rewrote the history books.
Shiffrin faced a lot of questions entering her third and final event at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. She had lost her previous two races in the Games, and the slalom was her last chance at redemption.
Shiffrin did just that by beating out the competition by a full 1.50 seconds in her run. It was a dominant performance by one of the greatest alpine skiers in the history of the sport.
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Shiffrin’s incredible performance immediately drew a message from the Olympics. “What a run!🔥” reacted the Olympics, posting a video of her gold medal-clinching dash.
Wednesday’s gold medal is Shiffrin’s third in her career. She also won gold in the 2014 Sochi Olympics in the slalom race — at just 18 years old. Her second gold medal came four years later in the giant slalom in the 2018 PyeongChang Games. Shiffrin also has one silver medal under her belt, which she won at the combined event in 2018.
“🎿 BACK ON THE TOP STEP OF THE PODIUM! 🥇” posted the Olympics, announcing Shiffrin’s third gold medal.
After her big night, Shiffrin was wiped out once she arrived in her hotel room during the wee hours of the morning. She posted a photo of herself in her pajamas lying on her bed. The Vail, Colorado native, of course, had her gold medal around her neck.
The Olympics caught wind of Shiffrin’s post and had one final message for the decorated skier before closing out the night/morning. “Night night, queen. 😴” the Olympics commented.
Shiffrin has now completed her fourth Olympic stint after competing in her third race. She will head back home to the United States soon — this time as a three-time Olympic gold medalist.