CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin closed her eyes, gave a deep breath and took a big step back onto the top of an Olympic podium.
The American skiing standout was a gold medalist at the Winter Games once again — and she couldn’t quite believe it.
Shiffrin put in two dominant runs in gorgeous conditions amid the jagged peaks of the Dolomites to win the women's slalom by a massive 1.50 seconds, ending her eight-year medal drought at the Winter Games and showing why she is widely regarded as the greatest Alpine skier of all time.
It made the 30-year-old Shiffrin the first American skier to win three Alpine golds and 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 as her career came full circle.
“Maybe,” she added, “just today, I realized what happened in Sochi. It’s crazy.”
The emotions came out of Shiffrin 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.
Shiffrin pumped her fists to the crowd and then was fighting back tears as she approached her mom and coach, Eileen, for a long, deep hug on the sidelines.
Later, at the medal ceremony, she shook both of her hands as she was about to receive her gold medal, clearly overcome by emotion. When it was placed around her neck, she looked down at it almost in disbelief.
Maybe it was a release of all the pressure on Shiffrin after she failed to win an Olympic medal in eight races since adding gold and silver to her collection in Pyeongchang in 2018.
A nightmarish 0-for-6 performance in Beijiing was followed in Cortina d’Ampezzo this year by 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.
That's all in the past.
Shiffrin has now won three golds and a silver at the Olympics to add to her record total on World Cup wins — it's 108 and counting, including 71 in slalom. There's also world titles in slalom (four), giant slalom and super-G to fill out arguably the greatest career in Alpine racing.
“In another league,” was how Larsson put it.
Shiffrin led by 0.82 seconds after the first run on a mostly flat course that Team USA officials described to her over the radio as a “high-tempo ripper.”
There was one wobble when she struck a gate and for a fraction of a second, it appeared she was headed for another Olympic disappointment.
Not this time.
She snapped back into form to post a time, in the No. 7 bib, no one could get near.
“When I saw one second (behind) after the first run," Rast said, "I was like, ‘OK, the gold is gone.'"
Shiffrin's second run was also smooth, getting through the tough top section without a hitch and pushing through the slower middle section. When she leaned forward to cross the line, Shiffrin had the largest margin of victory in any Olympic Alpine skiing event since 1998.
“I just wanted to feel those two runs — I'm proud but I'm also very grateful,” Shiffrin said.
“A big thing I've been working on with my team and my psychologist is, like, you have what you need within yourself. And I can't say that for giant slalom yet. I can't always say that in the start gate. But in the start gate today, I could.”
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics