Beijing 2022: Gisin Retains Alpine Combined Olympic Title

A pattern seems to be forming in the alpine combined Olympic races, as for the last 20 years (six Olympic Games), athletes who have won gold in the discipline manage to defend their title and win a second gold four years later.

Michelle Gisin (SUI) retains her title of alpine combined Olympic champion after a very strong slalom run which saw her finish over one second ahead of the other racers. Finishing the downhill race in 12th, Gisin had to ensure a strong slalom performance and that is exactly what she did. Gisin becomes the third athlete to win back-to-back alpine combined Olympic gold medals after Janica Kostelic (2002-2006) and Maria Hoefl-Riesch (2010-2014). The 28-year-old from Obwalden took more than a second off her teammate Wendy Holdener in the slalom.

Swiss compatriot and 2018 Olympic alpine combined bronze medallist, Wendy Holdener, managed to place higher than her 2018 result after claiming the silver medal. Finishing 1.05 seconds behind Gisin and 0.80 seconds ahead of Federica Brignone (ITA), Holdener claims her second medal at these Olympics after placing 3rd in the slalom race.

With the fifth gold, the Swiss also set a record at the Olympic Games. Never before has a nation won five gold medals in the Alpine category at the same Games

After finishing 8th in the downhill element of the alpine combined, Italian, Federica Brignone, pushed hard to make up five places and finished 3rd in the slalom. This is Brignone’s second medal in these Olympics after having placed 2nd in the women’s GS.

On the other hand, Mikaela Shiffrin, who was fifth after the combination downhill and favored for gold, was eliminated in the slalom. This made the personal fiasco in China perfect for the American. As at the beginning of the competitions in the giant slalom and slalom disciplines, she only got a few goals in the combined slalom. The 26-year-old American also missed out on a top place in the Super-G and downhill.