Mikaela Shiffrin

Mikaela Shiffrin is a highly decorated American alpine ski racer, renowned for her dominance in slalom. She is newsworthy due to her performance at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. After a series of disappointing results in earlier events, Shiffrin won the gold medal in the women's slalom, ending an eight-year Olympic medal drought. This victory marks her fourth career Olympic medal and third Olympic title. Prior to the Olympics, Shiffrin also achieved a record-breaking eighth slalom win of the season at a World Cup event in Are, Sweden. Despite not medaling in the team combined event (finishing 4th), her slalom victory is a significant achievement, solidifying her status as one of the greatest slalom skiers of all time and bringing solace to the US ski team after a challenging start to the Games.