CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Breezy Johnson and Mikaela Shiffrin are starting the women's Alpine skiing team combined event at the 2026 Winter Olympics in the middle of the pack.
They hope to finish at the top. Again.
The new Olympic downhill champion will start 14th in the downhill portion of the 28-team event on Tuesday, Feb. 10. The start order for the slalom run is reverse order of the downhill results.
“It’s so much pressure as well as being this really cool event,” Johnson exclusively told USA TODAY Sports on Monday, Feb. 9.
“You don't want to let down the greatest of all time, obviously,” Johnson said. “To give her a good downhill run feels like passing Kobe Bryant a great layup. You want to do that. You want to be able to pass the ball right. You don't want to miss that shot.”
Jackie Wiles and Paula Moltzan, the No. 2 team for the United States, will start the first run eighth. Bella Wright and Nina O’Brien will start 18th, and Keely Cashman and A.J. Hurt will start 23rd.
“This team could have multiple medals,” Cashman said after training Monday, Feb. 9. “I think it's not out of the question that we can sweep the podium, and I hope we can do it.”
Johnson and Shiffrin won the team combined at the 2025 world championships, where the event made its debut. They also now have a combined three Olympic gold medals after Johnson’s downhill win on Feb. 8.
And both have been strong this World Cup season. Johnson won a bronze in the super-G the weekend before the Olympics began while Shiffrin has seven wins and two other podium finishes.
Wiles won a World Cup bronze in January and missed the bronze medal in the Olympic downhill by 0.27 seconds while Moltzan has made the World Cup podium four times this season.
Germany is the only other country with a team in which both skiers have made the World Cup podium this season.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Where Breezy Johnson, Mikaela Shiffrin start in team combined at Olympics