In Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, U.S. Alpine skiing legend Mikaela Shiffrin saw another medal opportunity slip away at the 2026 Winter Games after once again falling short in the giant slalom, under stunning blue skies in the mountains above Cortina.

Shiffrin has won more World Cup races than any skier in history, and she led this winter’s World Cup standings leading up to the competition here.

However, the Olympics have long been a stumbling block for Shiffrin since her shocking disappointment in 2022, when she left the Beijing Games without a medal despite competing in all six Alpine events.

The giant slalom, in particular, has been a challenge. She won gold in that event at the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea. But she has struggled since a crash in 2024 during a giant slalom race in Killington, Vermont, where she collided with a gate and suffered a freak puncture wound to her abdomen.

She returned to the World Cup circuit later that winter but struggled for months with PTSD from the giant slalom event, she later revealed. Only last month did Shiffrin finally reach a World Cup podium in the event again, finishing third in Špindlerův Mlýn, Czechia. She was not expected to win Sunday’s race.

Upon arriving in Italy for the Olympics, Shiffrin acknowledged that she still lacked the “drive” that top giant slalom racers exhibit. "There are turns where I still back off, while I see the top women who consistently win pushing harder,” she said on February 7.

Still, Sunday marked the eighth consecutive Olympic event where she failed to reach the podium. Shiffrin finished sixth after her second and final run of the day.

Speaking last week after a disappointing performance that knocked the U.S. women out of medal contention in the team Alpine combined event, Shiffrin told reporters she was still making adjustments in Cortina.

The good news for Shiffrin? Her final Olympic race on Wednesday is the slalom, widely considered her strongest event.