The new Olympic champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist are part of the team team, which they won at last year’s world championships. The event includes a downhill race, which Johnson will do, and a slalom race, which Shiffrin will do.
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The other teams for the race on Tuesday, February 10 are:
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Jackie Wiles (downhill) and Paula Moltzan (slalom)
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Bella Wright (downhill) and Nina O’Brien (slalom)
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Keely Cashman (downhill) and AJ Hurt (slalom)
US Skiing created the teams based on results, which could have meant a long-awaited pairing of Lindsey Vonn and Shiffrin, two of the most successful alpine skiers in history. Shiffrin, the all-time leader with 108 World Cup victories, leads the overall and season slalom standings. Vonn, whose 84 World Cup wins trail only Shiffrin and Ingemar Stenmark, leads the downhill standings.
But Vonn broke her left leg in an accident during Sunday’s downhill. Johnson won gold in the race, elevating her to first place among American downhillers.
“I’m so excited for the combined team. I’m excited to have another shot at downhill,” Johnson said after winning gold on Sunday, Feb. 8, joining Vonn as the only American women to win the Olympic downhill title.
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“I think it could be a really good event for us,” Johnson added.
It gives Johnson a chance to duplicate what he did at last year’s worlds. She won the downhill title before partnering with Shiffrin to win the inaugural combined team event.
“The vibe around it, teaming up and feeling like we were doing it together, it was great,” Shiffrin said last year after winning.
Shiffrin and Johnson have been friends since they were children, and Johnson credits Shiffrin and her mother Eileen for encouraging her to continue early in her career.
“In many ways, I don’t know if I would be sitting here without Mikaela because she and her family took me under their wing and allowed me to be confident in myself,” Johnson said last fall. “We were both very intense kids. People were like, ‘Breezy, you need to relax. You need to have more fun.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t understand.’ I really like skiing, I like competing and getting better.” And I didn’t understand anyone who told me that.
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“(Mikaela) told me, ‘There’s nothing wrong with you. Just keep doing what you’re doing.’ And her mom said, ‘No, there are tons of kids here.’ They’re having fun and some of them might be good, but if you do that, you’re not going to be good,'” Johnson recalled. “And that helped me say, no, I’m going to be intense. I’m going to be serious. And if people say that’s wrong, that’s their fault.”
Now both are Olympic champions, with chances of winning more gold.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mikaela Shiffrin and Breezy Johnson Paired for Combined Team