Italy’s Brignone wins slalom for 2nd gold; Shiffrin finishes 11th
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Federica Brignone was taking in the magnitude of winning a second gold of her home Winter Olympics when the two silver-medalists approached the Italian skiing star in the finish area, dropped to their knees and bowed toward her.
Call her the Queen of the Dolomites.
The 35-year-old Brignone couldn’t walk for three months early last year. Now she is a double Olympic champion after winning the giant slalom with some ease on Sunday, barely 72 hours after powering to a super-G title that she felt was like something out of a Hollywood movie.
She delivered quite the sequel, taking a lead of 0.34 seconds after the first run and then putting in a clean second run in gorgeous conditions amid the jagged peaks of the Dolomite mountains above Cortina.
Brignone finished 0.62 seconds ahead of defending champion Sara Hector of Sweden and Thea Louise Stjernesund of Norway, who shared the silver medal.
“I was almost too calm,” Brignone said, “… I thought I had a so-so run and when I reached the finish and saw that I was first, I just heard screams and it was just crazy.”
Her beaten rivals — and they included U.S. standout Mikaela Shiffrin, who finished down in 11th place — were in awe.
“That was, like, the greatest show of GS skiing that we’ve had in a really long time,” Shiffrin said. “And to do it, you know, at the Olympics where people actually have eyes on the sport. Federica skied incredible. That was so cool to watch.”
It wasn’t so joyous for Shiffrin.
The American didn’t quite have the speed of Brignone or a number of her rivals in either run on a fairly flat course set by her own head coach, Karin Harjo, and ended 0.92 seconds off the lead. She has now failed to win a medal in eight straight Olympic races since the Winter Games in 2018.
Finishing just 0.30 seconds off second place suggested, however, there might be more to come from Shiffrin and redemption for perhaps the greatest ever Alpine skier might arrive in her best event — the slalom — on Wednesday.
“To be here now, like, within touch of the fastest women, that’s huge for me,” Shiffrin said. “So I’m proud of that.”
Indeed, Shiffrin smiled and waved to the fans in the grandstand with both hands after her second run when she already knew she’d be out of the medals, not showing any outward signs of disappointment.
By that time, the locals were waiting for Brignone to come down the sun-kissed Olympia delle Tofane course for a second gold in four days.
She didn’t disappoint.
It completes a stunning comeback for the popular Brignone, who was world champion in the GS in February last year before breaking multiple bones in her left leg in March that required surgery, a handful of screws and a metal plate to repair, and left her unable to walk until the summer. Heck, she only returned to racing barely a month ago.
A day doesn’t go by when Brignone doesn’t feel pain — “I would exchange my two gold medals to come back and not have this injury,” she said — yet she skied through it in a pair of runs her rivals couldn’t find fault with.
“I had the suggestion that we should bow to Fede,” Stjernesund said of her post-race gesture to Brignone, “not only because of this gold she got but considering her gold in super-G, being back and being such a big part of our sport and such a big profile. It means a lot to give her that confirmation.”
Before these home Games, Brignone had a silver and two bronzes at the Olympics. Now she has the big one — twice — and the loud home crowd lapped it up, chanting ‘FE-de, FE-de, FE-de’ during the medal ceremony.
“This is better than a dream,” she said. “It’s unimaginable.”