By Alan Baldwin
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 10 (Reuters) – Two fourths made a third for U.S. Alpine skiing teammates Paula Moltzan and Jackie Wiles at the Milano Cortina Olympics on Tuesday.
The surprise bronze medallists in the women’s team combined were both fourth-fastest in their respective downhill and slalom legs, but the hundredths of seconds went their way.
Fourth in Sunday’s downhill, won by teammate Breezy Johnson, Wiles was there again after the downhill leg.
It came down to Moltzan — who won giant slalom bronze at the 2025 world championships but was also fourth in slalom and combined that year as well as in the team event at the 2022 Beijing Olympics — to make the final push for the podium in Tuesday’s slalom section.
To most onlookers it seemed like another fourth, the most painful of positions, was coming their way with the pair provisionally on the bottom step of the podium but waiting for teammate Mikaela Shiffrin to go down as the final skier and favourite.
Shiffrin has won seven of eight slaloms this season and leads the overall World Cup. After Johnson was again fastest in downhill, the gold appeared to be in the bank. And then it wasn’t.
Shiffrin came down 15th fastest – an unheard-of position this season in which she finished second in the one slalom she did not win – meaning she and Johnson missed out on a medal by 0.06 of a second.
Moltzan’s time turned out to be joint fourth-fastest in the slalom run but no matter, the second-ranked U.S. pairing had beaten the much-vaunted first one.
“My heart goes out to Breezy and Mikaela,” said Moltzan with the medal around her neck. “I’m grateful that Jackie and I ended up on the right side of the hundredths today.”
“It finally feels we can take a deep breath that we have accomplished a lifelong goal of ours.”
The medals were the first for both at an Olympics.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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