The United States celebrated a long-awaited podium finish while Austria captured a historic victory in the women’s Olympic team combined at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics on Tuesday in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Austria’s pairing of Ariane Raedler and Katharina Huber delivered a composed, two-discipline performance to secure the gold medal with a cumulative time of 2:21.66, marking the first Olympic gold medal for both skiers.
Raedler, 31, set the tone in the downhill leg with an aggressive run that produced the second-fastest time, finishing just 0.06 seconds behind American Breezy Johnson, who led the downhill standings. That strong foundation allowed Huber to manage the slalom portion effectively. Although she finished 0.63 seconds behind the fastest slalom time, her steady run proved enough to keep Austria atop the leaderboard and clinch victory.
Germany’s Kira Weidle-Winkelmann and Emma Aicher pushed Austria to the very end, earning silver just 0.05 seconds back. For Aicher, the result added to an already impressive Olympic week. The 22-year-old collected her third career Olympic silver medal and second of the Games, reinforcing her reputation as one of alpine skiing’s rising stars. She is expected to compete in at least one more event before the Closing Ceremony.
The United States captured bronze, as Jackie Wiles and Paula Moltzan finished 0.25 seconds behind the winning Austrian team, with both Americans earning their first Olympic medals.
The podium finish carried particular emotional significance for Wiles. Just two days earlier, she narrowly missed a medal in the downhill, finishing fourth and 0.27 seconds shy of bronze, an outcome that left her visibly emotional in a post-race interview. On Tuesday, the 33-year-old veteran found redemption, helping secure Team USA a spot on the podium.
For Moltzan, the result marked a career milestone. After several close calls at major championships, she finally broke through to claim Olympic hardware for the first time.
Another American duo — downhill gold medalist Breezy Johnson and Mikaela Shiffrin — narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth (+0.31). Johnson once again showed her speed by posting the fastest downhill time, but Shiffrin struggled to find rhythm on softer snow conditions in the slalom run.
The fourth-place finish fell short of expectations for the American pair, who share a long history together — including rooming together at the Whistler Cup as pre-teens — and who won the team combined gold medal at the 2025 Alpine Ski World Championships. This time, however, the magic didn’t quite return.
Still, the day belonged to Austria’s breakthrough performance and to an American team that finally turned perseverance into Olympic success, as Wiles and Moltzan delivered a bronze medal moment years in the making.
Women’s Team Combined Results:
🥇Austria (Ariane Raedler / Katharina Huber) — 2:21.66
🥈Germany (Kira Weidle-Winkelmann / Emma Aicher) — +0.05
🥉United States (Jackie Wiles / Paula Moltzan) — +0.25
