Federica Brignone (ITA) did the unthinkable when she won Olympic super-G gold last week. She did the unthinkable again on Sunday in Cortina, roaring to her second gold medal of the 2026 Winter Games, this time in the women's giant slalom.
Brignone pulled off the stunning upset(s) with a left leg at less than 100 percent. In fact, days before Thursday's super-G, she was unable to ski because of the immense pain — lingering effects from the multiple bones she fractured in a crash at the Italian National Championships in April of 2025.
10 months, two surgeries and extensive rehabilitation later, she managed to rally (and then some) for the super-G, becoming the oldest gold medalist, man or woman, in Alpine skiing's Olympic history. 72 hours later, the 35-year-old broke her own record in the giant slalom.
Sara Hector (SWE) and Thea Louise Stjernesund (NOR) miraculously posted the same exact time as the other, down to the hundredth of a second, in both of their giant slalom (GS) runs. They walked away from the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre as joint silver medalists.
Because two skiers tied for the runner-up position, a bronze medal was not awarded.
Mikaela Shiffrin (USA), the most decorated Alpine skier of all time, put together a pair of solid runs, which landed her in 11th (+0.92).
It was a nice bounce back for Shiffrin from last week’s team combined where she struggled to find a groove in the slalom leg of the competition. It was also a welcome sign generally for the 30-year-old who's still building confidence in her GS abilities after her scary crash at a late-2024 Killington World Cup event that resulted in a puncture wound and post traumatic stress disorder.
Shiffrin will compete in her strongest discipline, slalom, on Wednesday, Feb. 18 — her final event of the Olympics.
The Edwards, Colorado native was one of 11 racers who finished less than a second behind Sunday's GS winner. The event was tight from the jump.
Through the first 13 racers of Run 1, the top 11 finished within 0.45 seconds.
That was when Brignone, the “Snow Tiger,” pounced.
She exploded out of the starting gate, teeth out, and charged purposefully down the piste. When she reached the finish line, it was Italy’s apex predator that sat pridefully in the leader’s chair.
With 29 other racers carving down the Tofane slopes before her in Run 2, she had to give up her seat. It turned out, the competition was just keeping it warm for her. Brignone continued her hot skiing, supplanting Hector and Stjernsund atop the podium as the final athlete to ski.
Shiffrin's compatriot Paula Moltzan (USA), the team combined bronze medalist, finished 15th (+1.27) in the GS.
Nina O’Brien (USA), who sustained a gruesome compound fracture in her leg at the 2022 Winter Olympics in the GS, placed 20th (+1.81).
Meanwhile, AJ Hurt (USA) looked strong at the start of her Run 1 but stumbled and motored directly through the middle of one gate, causing a DNF.
The Olympic Alpine skiing action picks back up Monday morning with the men's slalom event. Run 1 begins at 4 a.m. ET with Run 2 following at 7:30 a.m. ET. Both will stream live on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.