The winningest alpine skier in FIS World Cup history has one shot left at a 2026 Winter Games podium finish, as Team USA star Mikaela Shiffrin hunts her first Olympic medal in nine straight attempts in Wednesday's women's slalom final.
While Shiffrin entered this month's Olympics having won the event seven times across her most recent eight World Cup starts, the US standout has struggled so far in Cortina — four years after failing to medal at the 2022 Beijing Games.
After a 15th-place slalom run — notably amid difficult course conditions — pushed Shiffrin and teammate Breezy Johnson down to fourth in last week's team combined, the 30-year-old posted an 11th-place finish in Sunday's giant slalom, an event in which Shiffrin won gold at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.
In a sport where split-second margins determine victory or defeat, Shiffrin preempted her critics by reframing the outcome of her Sunday race, saying "when I think about it, I'm [only] three tenths off of the podium."
"It's such a high level of competition," Shiffrin explained. "It is really, really cool that we as athletes were able to showcase that on this day."
How to watch Mikaela Shiffrin in the Olympic women's slalom
The USA ski star will cap the 2026 Winter Games with her best event, racing in the women's slalom on Wednesday.
Shiffrin will race for Olympic hardware beginning at 4 AM ET, live on USA Network.
Chloe Kim is looking to extend her already historic Olympic run by aiming for a gold-medal three-peat this week, with the USA snowboarding legend topping Wednesday's halfpipe qualifiers en route to the podium event on Thursday.
Kim, who became the youngest Olympic women's snowboarding champion when she won the halfpipe at 17 years old at the 2018 PyeongChang Games, made even more history as the event's first-ever two-time gold medalist with her 2022 win in Beijing.
Now, the eight-time X Games champ is well on her way to a third straight gold following her field-leading qualification round score of 90.25 points on Wednesday — blowing past second-place Japanese frontrunner Sara Shimizu's 87.50 total and fellow US star Maddie Mastro's 86-point third-place finish.
Even more impressive, Kim's elite performance comes just over one month after the star suffered a dislocated shoulder in training, an injury that initially raised questions about her ability to top the 2026 Olympic podium.
"Going into these Games, I felt really at ease and calm. I know what I'm here to do," Kim said after her Wednesday run. "That was a six out of 10, and we're going for a 10 tomorrow."
Should she win gold, the 25-year-old will become the first snowboarder, woman or man, to win three straight Winter Olympic titles — and just the 11th across all sports to pull off a three-peat in the same event.
How to watch snowboarder Chloe Kim in the Olympic halfpipe final
The women's halfpipe final starts at 1:30 PM ET on Thursday, airing live on NBC.
Cleveland Browns star Myles Garrett was in Italy to watch snowboarder girlfriend Chloe Kim dominate the 2026 Winter Olympics halfpipe qualifiers on Wednesday, posting her winning run to Instagram as she advanced to Thursday's final.
Garrett shared footage of Kim's 90.25-point performance, with Kim subsequently topping the field by nearly three points over Japan's Sara Shimizu. The two-time defending Olympic gold medalist showed no signs of the torn labrum she suffered last month, successfully landing a risky inverted backside 720, massive switch straight air method, cab 1080 stalefish, frontside 900, and inverted indy 540.
"I got her whole run," Garrett said after the judges posted Kim's halfpipe score. "She's amazing."
Garrett and Kim confirmed their relationship last year when she attended a Browns game in November. The 2025 Defensive Player of the Year seems to be enjoying his offseason after breaking the league's single-season sack record last season.
Chloe Kim enters as US Olympic favorite — with Garrett by her side
The 25-year-old is shooting to become the first snowboarder to win Olympic gold at three consecutive Winter Games. She previously topped the halfpipe at PyeongChang 2018 at age 17, later defending her title at Beijing 2022 with a score of 94.00. No athlete has achieved a three-peat — not even legendary halfpipe star Shaun White, who won three non-consecutive golds in 2006, 2010, and 2018.
The Team USA superstar played the qualifying run conservatively, revealing only a few of the tricks expected to feature in her final routine.
"I've landed all the components of my finals run. I just haven't put them together," she said after Wednesday's first-place finish. "So I'll get to do it on the big day."
Myles Garrett will surely be watching on Thursday, as Kim chases history at the 2026 Winter Olympics women's halfpipe final.
Entering the 2026 Olympics with a newly torn ACL, Team USA skiing icon Lindsey Vonn will race in the women's downhill event on Sunday — with the 41-year-old using it as a test case before committing to additional events at the Winter Games.
Vonn is also hoping to compete in Tuesday's team combined slalom event — possibly alongside fellow US star Mikaela Shiffrin — but the recent knee injury could derail her fifth, and likely final, Winter Olympics run.
"It will be objective performance that will define what our teams look like," USA women's skiing head coach Paul Kristofic clarified. "In the end, my job is to put the best pairings together so we can perform and get a medal and potentially win."
With Vonn's status technically still unclear, Italy is eyeing a home win, as 2018 gold medalist Sofia Goggia teams up with fellow decorated veteran Federica Brignone on Tuesday.
That said, Vonn successfully completed an early Friday training run — on the same Cortina course where she holds a record 12 World Cup wins.
"She was smart. She didn't go all in," said Vonn's coach Aksel Lund Svindal after her 11th-place run. "There was reserves today.... It's going to be hard but I think she could possibly [medal] on Sunday."
"No one would have believed I would be here…but I made it!!" Vonn posted to social media prior to Friday's downhill training. "I'm not going to waste this chance.... Let's go get it!!"
How to watch Lindsey Vonn at the 2026 Winter Olympics downhill event
Vonn will make her 2026 Olympic debut in the women's downhill event at 5:30 AM ET on Sunday, with live coverage airing on USA Network.
A Lindsey Vonn crash during Friday's World Cup downhill in Crans-Montana, Switzerland has cast doubt on the skiing legend's Olympic participation just one week before the opening ceremony in Milan.
The crash occurred when the 41-year-old US skiing legend lost control landing a jump on the upper portion of the course, becoming entangled in safety nets. She was the race's third skier to suffer and injury, as falling snow led to poor visibility.
After receiving approximately five minutes of medical attention on the course, Vonn skied slowly to the finish line, stopping multiple times and clutching her left knee. The crash subsequently canceled the race.
Medical personnel airlifted Vonn off the slopes, with the skier suspended from a hoist cable. International Ski and Snowboard Federation CEO Urs Lehmann confirmed Vonn injured her knee but said the severity remained unclear.
Before entering the medical tent, Vonn shared an embrace with US teammate Jacqueline Wiles, who was leading when officials halted the competition. Vonn appeared visibly distressed during the emotional moment.
The Lindsey Vonn crash comes in the midst of the veteran skier's comeback season. After nearly six years away from competitive skiing, Vonn returned last season at age 40 with a partial titanium implant in her right knee. This season, she has dominated downhill racing with two victories and seven podium finishes in eight World Cup starts across downhill and super-G events.
Vonn holds the record for most World Cup victories in Olympic host location Cortina d'Ampezzo with 12 wins. Her first Olympic race is scheduled for February 8th, with plans to also compete in the super-G and a new combined team event.
The Lindsey Vonn crash occurred seven days before the Opening Ceremony in Milan-Cortina, raising serious questions about her 2026 Winter Olympics participation.
Team USA will see 97 skiers and snowboarders representing the red, white, and blue in Milan next month, with US Ski & Snowboard tapping a wealth of veteran experience for the 2026 Winter Olympic roster on Thursday.
All-time winningest FIS World Cup skier Mikaela Shiffrin will compete in her fourth Winter Games, with the 30-year-old two-time Olympic gold medalist hunting hardware in her preferred slalom event after failing to medal in Beijing in 2022.
At the same time, 41-year-old skier Lindsey Vonn is also mounting a dramatic comeback, participating in her fifth Olympics after winning multiple downhill medals on this season's World Cup circuit.
Also returning to the Olympic stage will be 25-year-old halfpipe star Chloe Kim, who is officially clear to return to competition after a recent shoulder dislocation put her Milan plans to become the first snowboarder to win three straight Olympic gold medals in jeopardy.
Alongside the deep veteran talent on the roster, US Ski & Snowboard is sending 48 athletes to make their Olympic debuts next month, including 15-year-old halfpipe freestyle skiier Abby Winterberger and 20-year-old two-sport talent Sammy Smith.
Smith, a Stanford sophomore and starting defender for the 2025 College Cup runner-up Cardinal soccer team, will compete in cross-country skiing for Team USA in Milan.
Considering 15 of the 25 US Olympic medals at the 2022 Beijing Games came from ski and snowboarding, US snowboard program director Rick Bower noted that, "In many ways, making this team is even harder than [competing in] the Olympics themselves."
J.Crew is hitting the slopes with Team USA for the 2026 Winter Olympics, dropping a limited-edition retail collection in collaboration with US Ski & Snowboard this week.
The apparel giant tapped six members of Team USA to model the capsule, including 2018 and 2022 Olympic snowboarder Hailey Langland, 2018 Olympic mogul skier Tess Johnson, and freestyle skier Rell Harwood, who is aiming to make her Olympic debut this year.
The move comes after the brand announced a three-year deal with the winter sports' national governing body, with J.Crew signing on as an official partner of US Ski & Snowboard.
"We're proud to elevate the sport and its athletes at a moment when excitement around snow sports is higher than ever," said J.Crew Group CEO Libby Wadle.
Using themes, patterns, and patches from both the governing org's and J.Crew's historic archives, the inaugural 26-piece collection features knitwear, winter accessories, loungewear, and — in conjunction with US Ski & Snowboard partner Kappa — technical ski jackets.
With items for all ages, the capsule collection will not factor into Team USA's official Olympic uniform, but will provide retro "après-ski-style" flair for both athletes and fans.
How to purchase the Team USA x J.Crew Winter Olympics collection
The full US Ski & Snowboard collection from J.Crew will hit the retailer's online store on Thursday, though fans can sign up for the official drop notification today.
With the 2026 Winter Olympics fast approaching, US skiing icon Mikaela Shiffrin has started the 2025/26 FIS World Cup cycle in top form — particularly in her favored slalom event.
Closing out last season with a victory, Shiffrin is currently on a multi-event winning streak, earning her sixth straight slalom title in Semmering, Austria, on Sunday.
"It was a really hard day today, tough conditions, a really big fight, and the pressure's on… I did my best, best possible run," Shiffrin said afterwards.
Momentum is on her side, with Shiffrin set to enter the 2026 Winter Games in Italy as the winningest skier in World Cup history, surpassing Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark's 86 wins in March 2023 and becoming the first skier to reach 100 World Cup victories earlier this year.
Sunday's race marked the 30-year-old's 106th career World Cup title, with Shiffrin looking to add to her ever-growing historic record with three more slalom events scheduled before the Olympic women's Alpine skiing events kick off on February 8th.
The 2014 Olympic slalom champion and 2018 Winter Games giant slalom gold medalist is aiming to return to the podium after failing to medal at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Shiffrin will likely hit the slopes again next weekend, when the women's FIS World Cup lands in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, for a giant slalom and slalom competition.
US skiing icon Lindsey Vonn is officially back, clinching her spot on Team USA's 2026 Winter Olympics roster this week behind stellar recent performances on the sport's World Cup tour.
The 41-year-old made headlines two weekends ago when she became the oldest Alpine Ski World Cup winner since the circuit's 1967 inception, taking first in the downhill race in St. Moritz, Switzerland on December 12th — her 83rd World Cup victory.
"Every single thing that I could do to be faster, I did," said Vonn after winning the downhill event. "And now, now this is what happens. You get the reward."
Vonn is continuing to rack up the rewards, claiming podium finishes in four of the five total races she's competed in so far this season, earning another second-place downhill finish in St. Moritz before taking third in both downhill and the Super G in Val-d'Isère, France, last weekend.
As for her fifth World Cup race, Vonn clocked in at a still-impressive fourth.
"Four podiums in five races, I couldn't really be any happier," the Olympic gold medalist said in response.
Those finishes have the US ski legend sitting at No. 1 in the World Cup downhill standings and No. 3 in the Super-G — with her downhill ranking putting her far enough ahead to guarantee Vonn one of the four Team USA roster spots at the 2026 Olympics.
"Lindsey qualifying for the 2026 Olympic team is a testament to her resilience and dedication," said US Ski & Snowboard president and CEO Sophie Goldschmidt, confirming Vonn's Team USA qualification in a Tuesday statement. "She's proven once again that elite performance isn't just about past success, it's about rising to the moment, race after race."
Success spurs Vonn to extend final competitive season
Returning to competitive skiing in November 2024 following her retirement in February 2019, Vonn spent part of her five-year hiatus undergoing and recovering from a titanium knee replacement that ultimately returned her to the slopes.
Though Vonn previously planned to retire immediately after February's Winter Games in Cortina, Italy, she's now setting her sights on completing the World Cup circuit in March — though that will officially be the end of the road for the US icon.
"I feel like I'm rolling the dice enough as it is, being 41 and putting myself through this," Vonn told The Athletic. "So this is a one-season, final season."
That said, she'll look to add to her trio of Olympic medals before hanging up her competitive skis.
"For Cortina, things are looking pretty f—ing awesome."