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Team USA won a bronze medal in the combined women’s alpine skiing team at the 2026 Winter Olympics — and it wasn’t the skiers fans expected.
The team of Jacqueline Wiles and Paula Moltzan were the Americans on the podium in the event. Wiles tackled the downhill part of it and Moltzan completed the slalom. Wiles had a downhill time of 1:37.04 and Moltzan had a slalom time of 44.87.
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Jacqueline Wiles of the United States, left, and teammate Paula Moltzan of the United States show off their bronze medals in an alpine skiing women’s team combined event at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
The pair finished behind Austria’s Ariane Raedler and Katharina Huber, who won gold, and Germany’s Kira Weidle-Winkelmann and Emma Aicher, who won silver.
The team of Mikaela Shiffrin and Breezy Johnson were the favorites to get at least a bronze medal given Shiffrin’s prowess on the World Cup circuit, and Johnson won a gold medal in downhill earlier in the Games.
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USA’s Paula Moltzan, left, celebrates with teammate USA’s Jacqueline Wiles at the finish area of a women’s alpine combined event at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Johnson had a solid race, finishing with a time of 1:36.59 — the best of any competitor in her group. Shiffrin was not fast enough to elevate his pair to the podium, finishing half a second behind Moltzan in the event. The group was just over three-tenths of a second behind Wiles and Moltzan for bronze.
It is the first Olympic medal for Wiles. She has competed for Team USA at the 2014, 2022 and 2026 Olympics.
USA’s Paula Moltzan, left, celebrates with teammate USA’s Jacqueline Wiles at the finish area of a women’s alpine combined event at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
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For Moltzan, it was her second Olympics for Team USA. The bronze is her first Olympic medal.
