Mikaela Shiffrin may have missed out on her second opportunity to medal at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games on Sunday, but the most decorated American skier in history is still plenty optimistic for her future with her best event on deck.

Shiffrin finished 11th with a time of 2:14.42 in the women’s giant slalom.

Italy’s Federica Brignone grabbed the gold medal in the event, posting a time of 2:13.50, while Sweden’s Sara Hector and Norway’s Thea Louise Stjernesund tied for silver.

Shiffrin’s teammates Paula Moltzan and Nina O’Brien finished in 15th and 20th place, respectively, while AJ Hurt failed to advance to the second run.

Shiffrin, 30, entered the second run in seventh place, but couldn’t trim enough off her time to earn a spot on the podium.

Sunday’s outcome, though, was a much better result than four years ago when Shiffrin didn’t finish the first run in Beijing and, therefore, failed to defend her gold medal from the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.

Rather than sulk about her Olympic medal drought continuing, Shiffrin chose to celebrate her personal wins after Sunday’s event.

Less than two years ago, Shiffrin was in pursuit of her 100th win when she crashed at the start of a giant slalom run during a competition in Killington, Vermont. She suffered a puncture wound to her abdomen and had severe muscle trauma that sidelined her for about two months.

Her confidence was rocked. She wondered whether she’d return to the speedy, skillful skier she once was.

Shiffrin has gradually rediscovered her flow. And about two weeks ago, she earned her first podium spot in giant slalom in two years.

On Sunday, Shiffrin hoped to repeat that recent success.

And while she wasn’t able to medal in giant slalom at the Olympics, she at least proved she can run with the best of them.

“To be here now like within touch of the fastest women, that’s huge for me,” Shiffrin said. “So I’m proud of that.”

Only 0.30 seconds separated Shiffrin’s 11th-place finish with the silver medalists.

“[We were all] close and that’s how high the competition level is I think,” she said. “That’s a beautiful show of our sport on an Olympic stage.”

Sunday was the second time this Winter Games that Shiffrin didn’t reach the podium.

She had a chance to medal earlier this week in the new team combined event with Breezy Johnson. But Shiffrin clocked the fourth-slowest time in the slalom run and the pair, who won gold in the team event during its debut at last year’s world championship, ultimately finished in fourth place in Cortina.

Shiffrin said she would “learn” from that poor run and believes Sunday’s run was proof that she had.

This is Shiffrin’s fourth Olympic appearance. She owns three Olympic medals, including two gold. She hasn’t earned a medal since she won silver in the combined event at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang.

Shiffrin, an eight-time world champion, has had success outside the Olympics. She’s earned eight medals at the World Championships since 2021, including three gold medals.

Shiffrin has one more opportunity to medal at the Olympics later this week when she competes in her best event, slalom.

Two weeks ago, Shiffrin earned her 108th career World Cup victory with a dominant performance in the women’s slalom in Czechia. With the win, Shiffrin clinched her ninth career Crystal Globe, breaking the previous record for most discipline globe titles won by an individual set by Lindsey Vonn (downhill) and Ingemar Stenmark (slalom and giant slalom).