Team USA reached the podium in the inaugural alpine women’s team combined event, but it wasn’t the duo many expected.
Americans Paula Moltzan and Jacqueline Wiles claimed bronze, while favorites Mikaela Shiffrin and Breezy Johnson finished fourth.
Johnson, fresh off a gold medal in the women’s downhill, dominated the Cortina slopes once again. She posted the best time in the downhill portion, setting Shiffrin up to be the last skier in the slalom.
Shiffrin stepped up needing a 45.06 to beat out Austria’s Katharina Huber and Ariane Raedler for gold and a 45.31 to clinch a medal, and she went on to post a 45.38. It was the 15th-best time out of the 18 skiers who completed the slalom portion.
Julian Finney/Getty ImagesJulian Finney/Getty Images
Mikaela Shiffrin (left) hugs teammate Breezy Johnson (right) after skiing in the slalom during the women’s team combined.
Wiles (1:37.04 downhill) and Moltzan (44.87 slalom) finished fourth in their respective elements, but their combined time of 2:21.91 narrowly put them above Shiffrin and Johnson in the overall standings.
The third-place result gives Wiles and Moltzan their first career Olympic medals. Wiles, competing in her third Olympics, missed out on downhill bronze by 0.3 seconds on Sunday. Moltzan, meanwhile, is in her second Olympics and has two more events in Milan Cortina.
Stefano Relladini / AFP via Getty ImagesStefano Relladini / AFP via Getty Images
Bronze medalists Jacqueline Wiles (left) and Paula Moltzan (right) of Team USA on the podium of the women’s team combined event.
Joining Austria and the U.S. on the podium are Germany’s Emma Aicher and Kira Weidle-Winkelmann (2:21.71), who earned silver.
There were two more American pairs in the combined event. Keely Cashman and AJ Hurt finished in 15th place overall with a 2:24.90 time. Bella Wright, celebrating her 29th birthday, bailed out moments into her downhill run, giving her and slalom partner Nina O’Brien a DNF.
Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin will be the first to say she doesn’t get emotional, but the Olympic superstar couldn’t help get teary-eyed as she remembered the coach who changed the trajectory of her career.