Milano-Cortina 2026 Slalom Finals: Brazathen and Shiffrin Hunt Last Golds
Two slalom races—men’s on 16 Feb, women’s on 18 Feb—close the Milano-Cortina 2026 alpine calendar and decide the final golds before Sunday’s closing ceremony.
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Brazilian GS Champion Chases Historic Slalom Double
Lucas Pinheiro Braathen can become Brazil’s first two-medal Winter Olympian. The 23-year-old, who swapped Norway for his mother’s passport last autumn, already owns giant-slalom gold after Saturday’s upset in Bormio. He opens the slalom 1.48 s adrift of early pacesetter Henrik Kristoffersen yet leads the World Cup slalom hunt with 451 points—one ahead of Norway’s Atle Lie McGrath. McGrath, racing days after his grandfather’s funeral, called the emotional GS “a farewell lap” and now targets redemption on the same Canalone Mirabanco slope.
Deep Men’s Field Targets Season Title
Fifty-six racers will thread 75 gates, and the crystal globe is still live. France’s Clément Noël, the 2022 Olympic king, sits 76 points behind Braathen; teammates Paco Rassat and Switzerland’s Loïc Meillard are within striking distance. Meillard, already a bronze medallist here, trains with Tanguy Nef under Swiss-Ski drills built for the “alternating-set” format—coaches flip gate rhythms for the second run. Austria’s Manuel Feller, Germany’s Linus Straßer and Norway’s Timon Haugan all logged sub-52-second training times last week on the 32-degree head-wall.
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Shiffrin Seeks First Medal in Cortina Slalom
Mikaela Shiffrin has used a rare two-day gap to stone-grind and reboot. Seventh in super-G, sixth in combined and fifth in GS, the American owns 98 World Cup wins yet zero podiums so far at these Games. Swiss pair Camille Rast and Wendy Holdener topped Monday’s official training; Holdener already has team-event bronze and the 2022 slalom bronze. Austria’s Katharina Truppe and 17-year-old Albanian Lara Colturi, both sub-1:40 here in January’s World Cup, add speed to a field where 0.08 s decided the previous Olympic final.
Vlhova Returns While Swiss Women Stack Podiums
Reigning champion Petra Vlhova starts Wednesday with no 2025-26 World Cup points after December knee surgery. The Slovak skied a cautious combined leg last week to “test the joint” and admits she has “zero expectations, only curiosity.” Switzerland, meanwhile, could lock up a fourth alpine gold: Rast, Holdener and Mélanie Meillard have shared every World Cup slalom podium this season. Sweden’s Sara Hector, fresh from GS silver, plans an all-out line after missing the 2022 slalom cut, and Norway’s Thea Louise Stjernesund eyes a downhill-slalom double no Norwegian woman has ever achieved.
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Course Crews Prep Ice-Hard Track
Overnight crews will salt and water-inject the piste, favouring edge precision over hip drags. Forecasts show clear skies and minus-6 °C dawn starts both race days—perfect for the Olympic “alternating-set” format. First-run coaches set a rhythm track; second-run architects reverse offsets, forcing racers to recalculate radius on the fly. Last month’s World Cup here saw 30th-seeded Giuliano Razzoli post the fastest second-run split, proof that start-order reversals can sling outsiders onto the podium. First runs begin at 10:00 local, seconds at 13:30.
How to Watch and Track Results
Eurosport and NBC’s Peacock stream live from 09:45 CET. Real-time splits refresh every gate on the FIS Live Timing page. Download the “Milano-Cortina 26” app for push alerts when chosen bib numbers leave the start wand. Arrive at the Tofana chairlift before 08:00 to claim a view above Gate 38—historically the spot that decides slalom victories here.
Sources: FIS, U.S. Ski & Snowboard, Swiss-Ski, Eurosport broadcast notes
Action Steps for Following the Finals
- Check the official start list the night before—bibs 1-15 get the cleanest course, yet 16-30 often charge hardest in Run 2.
- Screen-capture World Cup points tables; quick math during Run 1 shows who still owns a statistical shot at the crystal globe.
- Layer up: the Cortina grandstand sits at 1,650 m and shade creeps in after 11:30; chemical toe warmers keep feet nimble if you stand for both runs.
- Record split times on your phone; sector speeds reveal who is risking early versus conserving energy for the pitch.
- Stay after the flower ceremony—mixed-zone interviews often hint at retirement plans, coaching changes or equipment tweaks that shape next season’s narrative.
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