Mikaela Shiffrin has put together a season most athletes would be proud of, but her 2026 Winter Olympics began in a tougher way than many expected. In the women’s team combined and giant slalom, she missed out on medals. But when it came to her specialty, the women’s slalom, she claimed Olympic gold. Just when it seemed her season had reached its peak, Shiffrin returned to the World Cup circuit and dominated the slalom races once again, and achieved another milestone.

On March 24, 2026, Shiffrin delivered another beautiful performance at the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Finals in Hafjell, near Lillehammer, Norway. This race was the final slalom of the 2025-26 World Cup season.

From the first run, Mikaela Shiffrin was unstoppable! And then she built a lead of over a second in each run and finished with a combined time of 2:07.61. That is 1.32 seconds ahead of Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener, with Germany’s Emma Aicher another fraction behind at +1.36. That victory made her the first woman ever to claim nine World Cup slalom wins in a single season.

The win also marked Shiffrin’s 110th World Cup victory, making her the most successful alpine skier in history. It was also her ninth slalom victory of the season, securing her the World Cup slalom discipline title. Before this, she had eight slalom wins in 2018-19, a record she had shared with Janica Kostelic of Croatia, who achieved the same in 2000-01.

Beyond personal records, this performance strengthened Mikaela Shiffrin’s position in the overall World Cup standings. As just one race is left, that is a giant slalom, where she holds a strong lead of 85 points ahead of Aicher. If Shiffrin finishes in the top 15, she will clinch the overall title. However, Aicher still has a slim chance, needing a win to overtake Shiffrin.

“It’s weird to say battle with somebody who I consider a friend,” Shiffrin said of Aicher. “These last races have been super exciting for me to be part of it. I’m so excited to watch what she does in the future, but for now, we have one more race to decide this one.”

But the chances are huge in favor of Shiffrin. Aicher has not won a giant slalom World Cup, and his best performance was fourth place, whereas Shiffrin has experience and the big-time advantage. Nevertheless, the plot of this season is more understandable once you trace the origins of her Olympics.

Mikaela Shiffrin missed early chances, but her story was far from over

The 2026 Winter Olympics of Mikaela Shiffrin did not begin exactly the way people wanted it to begin! She teamed up with Breezy Johnson on February 10, 2026, in the women’s team combined, where the U.S. had previously been a world championship winner. The hopes were great, but in the slalom leg, Shiffrin faltered, clocking the 15th-place time.

That slip cost the team a medal, leaving the U.S. in fourth place, while Austria, Germany, and the other U.S. duo of Paula Moltzan and Jackie Wiles took the podium. After the race, Shiffrin admitted to reporters, “I didn’t quite nail it. I didn’t quite find a comfort level that allows me to produce full speed.”

The following event, the women’s giant slalom, was another opportunity to earn redemption, but Shiffrin failed again. Federica Brignone (gold, Italy), Sara Hector (silver, Sweden), and Thea Louise Stjernesund (silver, Norway) stood at the podium with Shiffrin in 11th place, nowhere near a medal. Two early events without a medal, and the Games seemed to be falling.

All that pressure and disappointment, however, set the stage for a comeback! On February 18, 2026, in her specialty, the women’s slalom, Shiffrin claimed Olympic gold and ended her medal drought.

After the race, Mikaela Shiffrin revealed just how much pressure she had been carrying, admitting she had been “very scared” before the start. The combination of fear and belief was the true tale of her comeback, and it makes what came after it all the more immense.