Mikaela Shiffrin's Olympic medal drought continued on Tuesday as she and team-mate Breezy Johnson finished fourth in the team combined event at the Milan Cortina Games. Shiffrin, who has a record 108 World Cup victories, has now gone seven consecutive Olympic races without a medal.
The team combined event pairs an athlete in downhill with one in slalom; Johnson led after the downhill leg, but Shiffrin lost time at every checkpoint in her slalom run, finishing 0.31 seconds behind. The bronze went to the other American pair of Jaqueline Wiles and Paula Moltzan, just 0.06 seconds ahead of Shiffrin and Johnson.
After the race, Shiffrin acknowledged her struggle: "I didn't quite find a comfort level that allows me to produce full speed. I'm going to have to learn what to do, what to adjust in the short time we have before the other tech races." She added, "I want to be careful not to make excuses... there's something to learn from this day."
Johnson, who had already won gold in the individual downhill, embraced her childhood friend Shiffrin in the finish area. Earlier, Johnson had said: "I already have my gold medal. I hope that she has fun and does her best. But if anything happens I'm not going to be like, 'Oh you ruined anything.'"
Shiffrin, who won three medals from her first two Olympics, failed to medal in six races at Beijing 2022. She has narrowed her focus for these Games, competing in only three events: the combined, giant slalom and slalom. She still has those individual races ahead.
