Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin are two of the biggest names for Team USA in the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.
Unfortunately for Vonn, her Olympic journey came to a bitter end on Sunday after she crashed in the women’s downhill final. The 41-year-old sustained a fractured leg and had to undergo surgery. This put an end to Vonn’s fifth appearance in the Olympics.
Shiffrin, on the other hand, has yet to make her debut in this year’s winter games. She will be participating in three events, starting with the team combined competition on Tuesday.
Team USA made an official announcement about the inaugural team combined event on Monday, following Vonn’s injury.
© Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
Vonn was supposed to take part in the team combined on Tuesday. The event, which will be held for the first time this year, requires one skier to compete in the slalom and the other in the downhill. However, after fracturing her leg on Sunday, Vonn has been ruled out of the team event as well as the rest of the Winter Games.
On Monday, U.S. Ski & Snowboard officially announced the teams that will participate in the team combined. Team USA will field four pairs, led by Shiffrin and Breezy Johnson.
Shiffrin took to social media to share her reaction to the announcement.
“Team Combined coming 🔜 w/ @_BreezyJohnson 🇺🇸” Shiffrin posted on X.
Shiffrin shared a video of herself and other Team USA skiers cheering for Johnson during Sunday’s downhill final. Johnson turned in a strong performance to bag the gold medal in the event. This was the same competition where Vonn suffered the devastating crash just minutes earlier.
According to Team USA’s announcement, the pairings for the team combined “are selected by coaches using results-based criteria from evaluative events, including the 2026 Olympic downhill race.”
Shiffrin (slalom) and Johnson (downhill) will lead the Americans as they look to make history by winning the first-ever team combined competition.
The women’s team combined downhill will take place on Tuesday at 4:30 a.m. ET. The slalom is scheduled for 7:50 a.m. ET.