Stage set for Olympic classic in Cortina with women’s best ready to rock

From hometown heroes Sofia Goggia (ITA/Atomic) and Federica Brignone (ITA/Rossignol) to rising stars Camille Rast (SUI/Head) and Emma Aicher (GER/Head) via defending champions Sara Hector (SWE/Head) and Corinne Suter (SUI/Head) there are headline acts everywhere you look days out from the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

But even among this gathering of greats, the USA women’s team believe they are set for something special.

First up, all eyes will be on Lindsey Vonn (USA/Head). The 41-year-old revealed on Tuesday that she has “completely ruptured” the ACL in her left knee but is doing everything in her power to be in the start gate for the opening Downhill.

The Vancouver 2010 downhill champion, who has already won two Audi FIS World Cup titles this season, is certainly not giving up on the dream of capping her remarkable comeback with another Olympic medal.

“I feel a lot better right now than I did in 2019 for the last World Championships and I still got a medal there,” Vonn said on Tuesday. “Life’s not perfect. Nothing is perfect in life and that’s where I always seem to be.

“But as many times as I crash, I’ve always gotten back up. As many times as I’ve failed, I’ve always won.”

A victory in any of the Downhill, the Super G (12 February) or the Team Combined (10 February) would be quite something, even in Vonn’s back catalogue of marvels.

A third gold – or more – would cap a stunning comeback for Mikaela Shiffrin (USA/Atomic) too. Not only has the Sochi 2014 Slalom and PyeongChang 2018 Giant Slalom champion had to fight the scar tissue from three falls in six Beijing 2022 Olympic races, she’s also had to get through PTSD brought on by her crash in Killington in November 2024.

But now, buoyed by her teammates, she is firing.

The Stars and Stripes have indeed been seen across multiple podiums this season, with Paula Moltzan (USA/Rossignol), Breezy Johnson (USA/Atomic) and Jacqueline Wiles (USA/Rossignol) all joining the party. It is no wonder the USA are leading the women’s Nations Cup.

“The momentum and team camaraderie has fed back and forth between tech and speed weekends,” Moltzan said. “It’s so fun to be part of a team that is so strong. It’s also so inspiring and motivating because you want to keep performing and doing as well as everyone else on the team.”

Not that the USA has had it all their own way. Aicher may only be 22 but she has already been on a World Cup podium in three different disciplines, and claimed a Downhill and a Super G win this season. Which Team Combined race will she choose?

Meanwhile Julia Scheib (AUT/Rossignol) has timed her run to the top with perfection.

Four wins and two second places in her eight GS World Cup races so far has understandably got Austria very excited.

“The goal is clear: I want to fight for the gold medal. I know what it takes and if everything comes together on the day, anything is possible,” Scheib added. “The expectations in Austria are always high. I see it as motivation rather than pressure.”

Old rivals Switzerland have plenty of medal contenders too, even in the sad absence of injured Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI/Head).

“The difference on the GS skis this season is probably the work that we did this summer,” said Rast, who after a GS win and two second places this season already is an undoubtedly a two-discipline threat.

A love of leading is also a useful skill for an athlete heading onto the biggest sporting stage of all.

“When you have to close the start gate, it’s always something special,” Rast, the 2025 Slalom world champion, said. “I like it, it means you did a good job and you have to do it again. I use this pressure to perform better and that helps me at the moment.”

Add on the fact defending GS Olympic champ Hector won the most recent World Cup GS race plus the hope Petra Vlhova (SVK/Rossignol) will make her long-awaited injury comeback in time to defend her Slalom crown, and it is clear the fans heading to Cortina d’Ampezzo are in for a real treat.

And all that is before the Italian chances have been added to the mix. The excitement around Brignone making it back from injury in time to compete has been justifiably huge. While Nicol Delago’s (ITA/Atomic) Downhill win on home snow last month got everyone wondering if she can match sister Nadia’s surprise bronze medal from four years ago.

The final pre-Games word goes to one of the Queens of the Olympia delle Tofane.

"I start from the assumption that it won’t let me down, I hope the mutual sense of love will prevail,” Goggia, a four-time World Cup winner down the Olympia delle Tofane, told Sport Finanza recently.

"You always have to give your best, so it’s 'all in.' But as I said before, you have to accept everything: so I broaden the scope and clarify that another podium, even if not the top one, will be fine."

The action starts with the Downhill on Sunday at 11:30 CET, find the full Olympic schedule here.