CORTINA, D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Jackie Wiles and Paula Moltzan upstaged their Olympic champion teammates, Breezy Johnson and Mikaela Shiffrin.
Got redemption, too.
Wiles and Moltzan won bronze in the women’s team combined event Tuesday, Feb. 10, finishing 0.06 seconds ahead of Johnson and Shiffrin.
‘It’s a competitive sport. At the end of the day, they’re our friends, but they’re also our competitors,’ Moltzan said.
Wiles and Moltzan both came into the race motivated by a fourth-place performance.
For Wiles, it was her fourth in the downhill on Sunday, Feb. 8, which left her overcome with emotion at coming so close – 0.27 seconds – to an Olympic medal. For Moltzan, it was last year’s world championships, after Lauren Macuga had won the downhill run.
‘We both were on the revenge tour,’ Wiles said. ‘I think it’s really special that both of us had that same kind of feeling coming in. We wanted it that bad.’
Wiles was fourth in the downhill portion of the event, 0.45 seconds behind Johnson, who had won gold in the downhill two days ago. Moltzan was aggressive throughout her slalom run, skiing with her usual controlled chaos, and her time of 44.87 seconds gave them a combined time of 2:21.91.
That put them in second, but there were still three teams left. Italy skied out. The Austrians vaulted into first, bumped Wiles and Moltzan down to third behind the German pair.
That left only Johnson and Shiffrin, and Shiffrin is the best slalom skier in the sport’s history. She’s won seven slalom races this season and finished second in the other, and has already wrapped up the season title in the discipline.
‘We wanted the medal, and Mikaela’s an incredible skier. She’s honestly, most of the time, unbeatable. It was crazy, actually,’ Moltzan said.
Wiles chimed in, ‘We were asking for a miracle.’
‘We asked for a miracle and I think we were delivered one,’ Moltzan said.
Shiffrin had one of the worst slalom runs in the last several years. That dropped her and Johnson to fourth, and made Wiles and Moltzan Olympic medalists.
It’s the first Olympic medal for both.
Austria’s Ariane Raedler (1:36.65) and Katharina Huber (45.01) won gold with a time of 2:21.66. Germany’s Kira Weidle-Winkelmann (1:37.33) and Emma Aicher (44.38) took silver in 2:21.71.
‘We’ve known each other for almost 17 years now. And I think that’s kind of the coolest part about it,’ Wiles said. ‘The fact that we could be a team together and do this with one another and really fulfill those childhood dreams is special.’
When they were announced as bronze medalists, Wiles and Moltzan grabbed hands and hopped on the podium, holding their hands aloft.
Johnson and Shiffrin were the pre-race favorites after winning the event when it made its debut at last year’s world championships, but Shiffrin posted the 15th slowest time (45.38) among the 18 skiers who finished the slalom course to drop the team off the podium and into fourth.