It all began with Breezy Johnson, who won the first US medal Feb. 8. The Alpine skier became the first American woman to take the downhill race since teammate Lindsey Vonn did in 2010, and just the second overall.
The US women’s Alpine team came in red-hot, leading the Nations Cup standings in the FIS World Cup and promising big wins. Mikaela Shiffrin finally redeemed herself Wednesday by winning gold in the slalom, her best event. It came 12 years after she won gold in the same event in her Olympic debut in Sochi, and eight years after her last Olympic medal, a gold in the giant slalom in 2018.
“To actually be in the right mentality in the right moment is nearly impossible,” she said.
Not this time.
Vermont resident Paula Moltzan teamed with Jacqueline Wiles to win a surprise bronze in the team combined, which made its Olympic debut.
Also out in Cortina, Minnesota’s Cory Thiesse became the first American woman to win a medal in Olympic curling when she and Massachusetts native Korey Dropkin won silver in mixed doubles.
“Having a woman on the podium for USA Curling here at the Olympics has been a long time coming,” she said after earning entry into the final. “I know how important it was for me to have people to look up to when I was growing up, so I hope I can be an inspiration to young girls in the US in curling.”
Just down the road from the Cortina Curling Stadium, Ashley Farquharson made history on the sliding track when she won a bronze medal in luge. It was only the second time the US women had placed in the event. She said after her race that she recalled Erin Hamlin winning bronze in 2014.
“I remember watching her win that race in my eighth-grade math class,” she said. “I got in trouble.”
No American men medaled in luge or bobsled. But the US women were there to bail the team out.
Elana Meyers Taylor, the most decorated Black American and female American Winter Olympian, entered these Games with five medals, none gold. She finally did it in the monobob, at age 41, with her two children, both of whom have special needs, watching nearby.
Teammate Kaillie Armbruster Humphries, also a mom, won bronze in monobob and followed that with another bronze in the two-woman with fellow mom Jasmine Jones.
“It just goes to show everything that being a mom entails, and also being an athlete at the same time,” Jones said after her win.
Traveling a bit west to Val di Fiemme, Wakefield resident Jessie Diggins was highly favored to take home hardware in her final Olympics. After a fall early in competition, she struggled through her races but managed bronze in the 10k.
On Sunday she finished fifth in the 50km, the longest distance women have ever raced in the Games.
“We should have had it all along, but now we finally get it and that’s amazing,” she said of racing the same distance as the men.
Out in Bormio, Chloe Kim fell just short of becoming the first snowboarder to win three straight golds in an event, settling for silver in the halfpipe behind 17-year-old Gaon Choi of South Korea.
“I’ve known Gaon since she was little, and it means a lot to see that I’ve inspired the next generation and they’re now out here killing it,” said the 25-year-old Kim.
But the freestyle skiers in the northern part of the country absolutely cleaned up.
Elizabeth Lemley and Jaelin Kauf went 1-2 in moguls, then followed that with a silver for Kauf and a bronze for Lemley in dual moguls. Kaila Kuhn rounded out the contributions by helping the United States win a gold in the mixed-team aerials.
Back in Milan, the women were all anyone could talk about. Team USA won its third gold medal in the women’s hockey.
In short-track speedskating, Corinne Stoddard finally broke through with a bronze in the 1,500 after a struggle in her earlier events. She was the first American woman to get on the podium in the event and the first American skater to win a medal in short track since 2018. On the final day of racing Saturday, Mia Manganello took bronze in the women’s mass start — the first American medal in the event ever — in her final Olympic race.
And over at the rink, Alysa Liu was part of the US crew that won gold in the team event alongside Amber Glenn, pairs skater Ellie Kam, and ice dancer Madison Chock, who also won silver with her partner Evan Bates in the individual competition. But more notably, Liu made history by becoming the first American woman to medal individually since Sasha Cohen in 2006, and the first American woman to win gold since Sarah Hughes in 2002.
What made Liu’s triumph particularly special was the way she did it. She retired after the 2022 Olympics, spent some time away from the sport, then came back on her own terms.
“I was peak happiness when I was out there on the ice,” she told Olympics.com. “Nothing could bring me higher than that.”
Nobody scored higher than her, either.
US women stepped up to the podium at 2026 Winter Olympics
