American skier Mikaela Shiffrin won the gold medal in the women’s giant slalom event Thursday at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea.
Shiffrin beat Norway’s Ragnhild Mowinckel by nearly four-tenths of a second on her final run to win her second career Olympic gold medal, following her triumph in the slalom in the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Italy’s Federica Brignone finished third to win the bronze medal.
Thursday’s women’s giant slalom was staged after high winds and frigid temperatures forced officials to postpone the event earlier this week.
Norwegian makes history
Elsewhere on the slopes, Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway made history twice in winning the gold medal in the men’s downhill: at 35 years old, he is the oldest Alpine skiing champion in the history of the Winter Games, and he is the first Norwegian to win the downhill event. Compatriot Kjetil Jansrud won the sliver medal, while Swiss world champion Beat Feuz finished in third.
In women’s cross-country skiing, Ragnhild Haga took home the gold in the 10,000-kilometer race, with Charlotte Kalla of Sweden taking the silver medal. Norway’s Marit Bjoergen and Krista Parmakoski finished tied for third with identical times of 25 minutes, 32.4 seconds.
On the ice
On the ice rink, Germany’s Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot won the gold in the pairs figure skating event in a brilliant, crowd-pleasing performance. The pair scored 159 points in Thursday’s free skate program, breaking their own world record in a performance that pushed them from fourth place after a shaky short program.
Chinese pair Sui Wenjing and Han Cong took home the silver, while Canadians Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford won bronze to add to the gold medals they earned in the team competition.
France’s Pierre Vaultier won his second consecutive gold medal in the men’s snowboard cross, outdueling silver medalist Jarryd Hughes of Australia and Spain’s Regino Hernandez, who won the bronze.
