Mikaela Shiffrin’s remarkable Olympic journey reached a triumphant milestone in Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy, on Wednesday. With a commanding 1.50-second lead, she secured a much-anticipated slalom gold, putting an end to her lengthy medal drought at the Winter Games.

In the picturesque setting of the Dolomites, Shiffrin delivered two outstanding runs, reaffirming her status as arguably the greatest Alpine skier in history.

Her victory margin was the third-largest ever in a women’s Olympic slalom, echoing her 2014 triumph in Sochi when she first dazzled the world as a precocious teenager.

Now, twelve years later, Shiffrin’s mastery of her signature event was on full display. Emotional scenes unfolded at the finish line as she was warmly congratulated by Switzerland’s world champion Camille Rast, who took silver, and Sweden’s Anna Swenn Larsson, who claimed bronze.

The 30-year-old Shiffrin celebrated with a jubilant fist pump to the crowd before an emotional reunion with her mother and coach, Eileen, sharing a heartfelt moment on the sidelines.

Reflecting on her achievement, Shiffrin admitted the victory was “really hard to understand and process.”

“Maybe,” she added, “just today, I realized what happened in Sochi. It’s crazy.”

For Shiffrin, maybe it was also a release of all the pressure after failing to win an Olympic medal since adding gold and silver to her collection in PyeongChang in 2018.

A nightmarish 0-for-6 performance in Beijing was followed in Cortina d’Ampezzo this year with an 11th place in the giant slalom and a fourth-place finish with Breezy Johnson in the team combined, in which Shiffrin placed 15th in the slalom portion.

That’s all in the past.

Shiffrin has now won three golds and a silver at the Olympics to add to her record total on World Cup wins – it’s 108 and counting, including 71 in slalom.