Olympic alpine skiing results 2018: Mikaela Shiffrin claims gold for USA in giant slalom

After several days of wind delays, Team USA skier Mikaela Shiffrin finally got her 2018 Winter Olympics underway. She did not disappoint, taking the gold medal in the women’s giant slalom with a time of 2:20.02.

Ragnhild Mowinckel took silver for Norway while Federica Brignone took bronze for Italy.

Shiffrin wasn’t affected by the constant delays, though she didn’t quite blow away the field as expected. Her first run clocked in at 1:10.82, putting her in second place behind Italy’s Manuela Moelgg at the time. Shiffrin held on to second all the way through the end of the first run, with Moelgg in first and Italian Federica Brignone placing third.

When Shiffrin came out for her second run, she lost some time early, but made up for it in the steep section, clearing Mowinckel by 0.39 seconds, for a total time of 2.20.02. It was a brilliant run overall.

This event was postponed to Thursday morning local time after heavy winds made the conditions dangerous at Yongpyong Alpine Centre, but the weather finally improved enough for events to take place.

Shiffrin will look to add to her medal total when she defends her Sochi gold in the regular slalom.