Austria wins women’s Alpine combined after Mikaela Shiffrin struggles in slalom

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy — Rough start for the rock stars.

Tuesday was reserved for the American risers.

Jackie Wiles and Paula Moltzan teamed up to win bronze in the women’s alpine combined, reaching the podium after U.S. teammate Mikaela Shiffrin faltered in the afternoon slalom.

Shiffrin’s 15th-place finish was a surprise considering she’s among the most decorated skiers in history, and she’s typically dominant in slalom. She was a full second behind the winner.

The performance came two days after fellow American legend Lindsey Vonn suffered a devastating crash just 13 seconds into her downhill run.

“I didn’t quite find a comfort level that allows me to produce full speed,” Shiffrin said. “I’m going to have to learn what to adjust in the short time before the other tech races.”

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Even though they are all close friends and U.S. teammates, Moltzan said, they’re also intensely competitive with each other.

“She’s incredible, most of the time unbeatable,” Moltzan said of Vonn. “We were asking for a miracle, and I think we were delivered one. If you let Mikaela run that course, she’d usually come down in the lead by at least a second.”

Shiffrin was predictably gracious in defeat — as rare as those defeats are.

“This day was actually a pretty incredible day for our team,” she said. “We got to watch Paula and Jackie receive their medal, and they have earned that. … There’s so much sweet about the day. So we’re taking that, and I’ll have some learning to do, like always.”

Austria’s Ariane Raedler and Katharina Huber won gold in the women’s alpine combined, and Germany’s Kira Weidle-Winkelmann and Emma Aicher captured silver.

American Breezy Johnson held up her end of the bargain. Two days after winning gold in the women’s downhill, she tore through the same Olimpia delle Tofane course in 1:36.59 to post the fastest time in the downhill portion of the event.

That put teammate Shiffrin in prime position to anchor the U.S. in the slalom portion, which was set up on the same slope. But Shiffrin turned in a tentative performance and finished with a time of 45.38 seconds in a race that featured 10 skiers failing to finish. Johnson and Shiffrin were 0.31 of a second behind the winners.

Bronze medalists Jackie Wiles, left, and Paula Moltzan celebrate on the podium after earning bronze medals in Alpine team combined on Tuesday.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

“I want to be careful not to make excuses because it’s not really an excuse. ... I’ve been so prepared for all the slaloms this year,” Shiffrin said. “So there’s something to learn from this day. And I’m going to learn it.”

Shiffrin earned her 108th career World Cup victory in December and clinched her ninth career Crystal Globe, presented to racers who win season titles on the World Cup circuit. That set a record for most discipline globe titles won by an individual athlete. That surpassed Vonn and Ingemar Stenmark, both with eight.

Shiffin, however, didn’t medal in any of the six races she competed in at the 2022 Beijing Games after winning two golds and a silver in her previous two Olympic appearances.

Wiles finished fourth in the downhill session, 0.45 seconds off the lead, setting up Moltzan, who had a time of 44.87 in the slalom to finish 0.25 of a second off first overall.

Isabella Wright, also of the U.S., missed the second gate and did not finish the downhill, ending the day for her and Nina O’Brien, who was supposed to race in the afternoon.

“Definitely bummed,” Wright said. “I feel mostly bad for my teammate, Nina. That’s definitely the hard part. I was really looking forward to cheering her on in the slalom.”