Mikaela Shiffrin, Breezy Johnson Stunningly Fall Short in Women's Combined Downhill

Mikaela Shiffrin came up short in her first competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Mikaela Shiffrin came up just short in the women’s team combined event. | Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP via Getty Images

Mikaela Shiffrin came up short in the inaugural Olympic women's team combined event on Tuesday in her first run of the Milan Cortina Games. Team USA entered Shiffren's slalom run in good shape after Breezy Johnson posted the fastest downhill time of the competition, but Shiffrin couldn't equal the performance and her team finished just off the podium in fourth.

Austria's Ariane Raedler and Katharina Huber won gold and Germany Kira Weidle-Winkelmann and Emma Aicher won silver. Team USA's Jackie Wiles and Paula Moltzan held onto the bronze as Shiffrin and Johnson just missed the podium by 0.06 of a second.

Shiffrin posted just the 15th best time out of 18 slalom skiers.

As for Johnson, she's having a breakout Olympics. At 30-years-old and in just her second Winter Olympics, she won gold in the women's downhill last weekend and put her team in position to medal in her second event.

Breezy Johnson celebrated a tremendous downhill time in the team combined event. | Photograph by Erick W. Rasco / Sports Illustrated

At the 2014 Sochi Games Shiffrin became the youngest skier to win the women's slalom. She also took gold in the giant slalom and won silver int he combined. Shiffrin then skied in six events at the 2022 Winter Olympics, but failed to medal in any of them.

Shiffrin's Milan Cortina Games will continue over the weekend in the giant slalom

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