Redemption never felt so good.

Mikaela Shiffrin won a battle with the best slalom skiers in the world — and herself.

“It’s like,” Shiffrin said, before pausing, “… being born again.”

In her third and final attempt to medal at the Milan Cortina Games — after her 2022 implosion in Beijing — Mikaela Shiffrin won gold in her signature slalom event — besting the field over two runs by a whopping 1.50 seconds.

Crossing the finish line, the most dominant slalom skier of all time and still the best on the mountain squatted down with her head between her knees in relief, then shed some tears as she waved to the crowd and quickly left the finish area to hug her mom.

“The skiing is what I cared about and of course, medal and [win] gold. I mean, that’s a dream come true,” Shiffrin told NBC. “But at some point this week, I just said, like, ‘Stop dreaming, just ski.’ This whole time has been waiting for two times 45 seconds today to be able to ski, and I’m so happy to be able to do the right thing in the right moment.”

The 30-year-old nailed the most important run of her Olympic legacy, winning by the largest margin in any Olympic alpine skiing event since 1998.

“This was a moment I have dreamed about — I’ve also been very scared of this moment,” Shiffrin said. “Everything in life that you do after you lose someone you love” — her father died at 65 from an accident in the family home in 2020— “is like a new experience.

“And,” she added, her voice starting to tremble, “I still have so many moments where I resist this. I don’t want to be in life without my dad. And maybe today was the first time that I could actually accept this, like, reality.”

She now holds the most Olympic gold medals of any U.S. skier, and is both the youngest and oldest American woman to ever win alpine gold. She first claimed it at 18 years old in 2014.

When asked if this was her “storybook ending” after enduring several Olympic disappointments and injuries, Shiffrin said, “I don’t even think we’re 5 percent of the way through the book.

“This feels like a really big moment. It’s just part of it. … It’s part of the journey.”

Switzerland’s Camille Rast finished second (1:40.60) and Sweden’s Anna Swenn-Larsson rounded out the podium in third (1:40.81).

Fellow Americans Paula Moltzan and AJ Hurt finished in eighth and 19th, respectively. American Nina O’Brien did not finish the first run.

Shiffrin was poised for the gold after taking a sizable lead following the first run in 47.13 seconds down the Cortina d’Ampezzo course, putting her 0.82 of a second ahead of the rest of the field.

Germany’s Lena Duerr followed Shiffrin in second after the first run and Sweden’s Cornelia Oehlund placed third. However, both shockingly skied out during their second run — Duerr hooked the first gate with her right ski and Oehlund snapped her left pole in half against a gate, throwing her off balance and dooming her run.

This Winter Olympics was meant to be Shiffrin’s revenge year.

After collecting three medals — including her second career gold — in 2018, she walked away empty-handed in Beijing four years ago after skiing out of the course in both slalom and giant slalom. And in November 2024, she had a major crash during a World Cup giant slalom race in which she suffered a puncture wound in her side. She also dealt with PTSD after the crash.

Prior to Wednesday, the Vail, Colo. native was quiet in Milan.

Shiffrin and Breezy Johnson combined to finish fourth in the women’s team combined event. They were poised for gold after Johnson led the way in the downhill portion, but Shiffrin was just the 15th-fastest down the hill in the slalom, costing the U.S. pair the gold. Days later, she finished 11th in giant slalom, though she was pleased with her finish in an event in which she does not excel.

Of her record 108 World Cup wins, 71 have come in slalom. Shiffrin also holds two Olympic gold medals from both the slalom and giant slalom in 2018 in Pyeongchang, and a silver from the team combined event at the same Games.

— with AP