Federica Brignone / GEPA pictures

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — On the historic Olimpia delle Tofane, under flat, overcast skies, Federica Brignone delivered the defining performance of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games.

At 35, racing at home, with limited preparation and a surgically repaired leg, Brignone mastered a brutal championship course to claim her first Olympic gold medal and her first Olympic Super-G medal. The victory also delivered Italy’s first alpine skiing gold medal of the Milano Cortina 2026 Games, a breakthrough on home snow for a nation that had already been building momentum across other disciplines but was still waiting for its defining alpine moment.

She did not lead early.

She was sixth in Sector 1.
Seventh in Sector 2.

Then she dominated where it mattered.

🥇🥈🥉 Women’s Olympic Super-G — Top Five Results

🥇 🇮🇹 Federica Brignone (ITA, 1990) — 1:23.41
🥈 🇫🇷 Romane Miradoli (FRA, 1994) — +0.41
🥉 🇦🇹 Cornelia Hütter (AUT, 1992) — +0.52
4th 🇦🇹 Ariane Rädler (AUT, 1995) — +0.53
5th 🇳🇴 Kajsa Vickhoff Lie (NOR, 1998) — +0.76
5th 🇮🇹 Laura Pirovano (ITA, 1997) — +0.76

The Section That Broke the Field

The Super-G began just above the iconic Tofana Schuss before plunging into the decisive compression in Sector 3 — the section that defined the race.

Brignone’s teammate, bib 9 Sofia Goggia, the season’s World Cup Super-G leader, was 0.68 seconds ahead through Sector 2 before skiing out. Emma Aicher attacked and did not finish. Multiple contenders were eliminated in the same terrain.

Brignone was fastest in Sector 3.
She was fastest in Sector 4.

That was the Olympic difference.

After the race, Goggia praised her teammate.

“I really have to congratulate Federica. After everything she has been through, to produce something like that — honor and glory to her,” Goggia said.

Goggia admitted she had not expected to be in such a strong position mid-run.

“Today I skied really hard. I didn’t expect to be so far ahead, but the race is over. At the Olympics you have to give 100 percent, and I think I did. I carried my skiing all the way to the exit and into the next section.”

Her mistake came in the same compression-heavy terrain that eliminated many of the world’s best.

“I skied the way I know how. I knew I had to be careful between the Grande Curva and the Scarpadon. I should ha

Medalists

🥇 Federica Brignone — Italy

Brignone’s gold is one of the defining achievements of these Games.

Last spring, she severely injured her leg racing in the Italian National Championships. Many believed her home Olympic dream was over. This season, she raced just twice on the World Cup circuit and finished 10th in the Olympic downhill days ago.

Yet she entered Cortina with elite credentials:

• 13 career World Cup Super-G victories
• Super-G silver at the 2025 World Championships
• The best overall skier in the world last season
• Three prior Olympic medals

This was her first Olympic Super-G medal.
Her first Olympic gold.

Fastest in the decisive sectors, she didn’t overpower the mountain — she mastered it.

“I was expecting my skiing to be really confident and try to make every turn clean — not perfect — but to let my skis go and be smooth through the terrain,” Brignone said.

She admitted even now the magnitude has not fully settled in.

“It’s crazy. I don’t think I’ve realized it yet. I know exactly what I did, but I think I will enjoy it more later with my team.”

Despite entering as an outsider in some eyes, Brignone trusted her experience.

“I was an underdog. I was an outsider. But I know what I can do with my skis.”

The Snow Tiger roared when it mattered most.

🥈 Romane Miradoli — France

Miradoli secured the first Olympic medal of her career in her third Games.

The French skier owns six career World Cup Super-G podiums, including a victory in 2022 and a second-place finish in the St. Moritz season opener this year. She carried strong upper speed but conceded time in Sector 3, where Brignone separated herself.

This was a breakthrough on the Olympic stage.

“All the athletes work so hard, but last year in Garmisch I asked myself, ‘Is it done for you?’” Miradoli said. “No. I had to continue because I can push more and I still believed.”

She made changes to her preparation and trusted the process.

“I changed some things in my preparation and everything, and it just paid off.”

The medal remains surreal.

“It feels so magical. I can’t believe it — it’s like a dream, and the dream came true.”

🥉 Cornelia Hütter — Austria

Hütter captured bronze in her fourth Olympic appearance.

She entered Cortina in form — fourth in downhill, fifth in team combined — and brought championship pedigree with her:

• 14 career World Cup Super-G podiums
• Five World Cup Super-G victories
• Bronze medal at the 2023 World Championships

She edged teammate Ariane Rädler by 0.01 seconds to secure Austria’s medal.

Experience delivered under pressure.

“I was just shaking. The run was crazy. I was fighting like hell,” Hütter said.

The Austrian described the course as relentlessly technical.

“It was so challenging with all the rollers and blind gates behind them. I thought it might be my last Olympic Super-G, so I knew I had to go all in at the start gate.”

When asked what an Olympic medal means, she smiled.

“I don’t know yet. I think it’s too early to ask.”

USA Women — Olympic Super-G

• 🇺🇸 Jacqueline Wiles (USA, 1992) — 13th, +1.99
• 🇺🇸 Keely Cashman (USA, 1999) — 15th, +2.20
• 🇺🇸 Breezy Johnson (USA, 1996) — DNF
• 🇺🇸 Mary Bocock (USA, 2005) — DNF

Wiles and Cashman both finished inside the top 15, earning valuable World Cup Start List points that will strengthen their Super-G start positions later this season.

Johnson, the Olympic downhill champion, crashed after hooking an arm in a gate and sliding into the fencing. The crowd roared in relief when she rose and skied to the finish under her own power.

And the day ended on a joyful note for the American star.

Shortly after the race in Cortina, Johnson’s longtime boyfriend, Connor Watkins, proposed. She accepted, marking a major personal milestone during an already unforgettable Olympic Games.

Bocock, competing in her first Olympics and the youngest woman on the U.S. team, also crashed at high speed. Her airbag deployed, and she stood before skiing to the finish arena — a dramatic debut on one of the sport’s most demanding stages.

Canada — Olympic Super-G

• 🇨🇦 Valerie Grenier (CAN, 1996) — DNF
• 🇨🇦 Cassidy Gray (CAN, 2001) — DNF

The middle section of the course proved unforgiving.

Olympic super G Results

Click images to enlarge

Analysis of the Medalists and Team USA Finishers