Mikaela Shiffrin’s turbulent, 12-year Olympic journey came full circle Wednesday when she won the slalom by a massive 1.50 seconds to break her long medal drought at the Winter Games.
Shiffrin put in two dominant runs in gorgeous conditions amid the jagged peaks of the Dolomites to show, again, why she is regarded by many as the greatest Alpine skier of all time.
It was the third-largest margin of victory in a women’s Olympic slalom, the event she won as a fresh-faced teenager in Sochi in 2014 to underline her status as a skiing star.
Twelve years later, she delivered again in her favorite race, and the emotions came out in the finish area after being embraced by world champion Camille Rast of Switzerland, who took silver, and bronze medalist Anna Swenn Larsson of Sweden.
The 30-year-old Shiffrin pumped her fists to the crowd and was fighting back tears as she approached her mother and coach, Eileen, for a long hug.
Shiffrin said it was “really hard to understand and process” her victory.
“Maybe,” she added, “just today, I realized what happened in Sochi. It’s crazy.”
For Shiffrin, maybe it also was a release of all the pressure after failing to win an Olympic medal since adding gold and silver to her collection in Pyeongchang in 2018.
A nightmarish 0-for-6 performance in Beijing was followed in Cortina d’Ampezzo with a fourth-place finish with Breezy Johnson in the team combined, in which Shiffrin placed 15th in the slalom portion, and an 11th place in the giant slalom.
Her first gold came in the slalom as a fresh-faced teenager in Sochi 12 years ago. She is only the second skier (man or woman) to win slalom gold at the Games twice, along with Switzerland’s Vreni Schneider (1988, ’94).
Her third Olympic gold also gives her the most Alpine skiing wins by an American skier.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.