Italian Federica Brignone will go into a home Olympics as a reigning world champion, while Minnesotan Paula Moltzan is a first-time individual world medalist, 12-plus years after her debut at ski racing’s highest level.

Paula Moltzan knows the feeling all too well. Already at this year's Alpine skiing world championships, she was on the U.S. squad that finished fourth in the mixed team parallel event. Then she couldn’t hold on to the lead that partner Lauren Macuga had set up in the downhill portion of the new team combined event and ended up fourth with her slalom run.

Paula Moltzan knows the feeling all too well. Already at this year’s Alpine skiing world championships, she was on the U.S. squad that finished fourth in the mixed team parallel event. Then she couldn’t hold on to the lead that partner Lauren Macuga had set up in the downhill portion of the new team combined event and ended up fourth with her slalom run.

Italy's Federica Brignone and New Zealand's Alice Robinson blew away the field Thursday, with Moltzan sneaking into the No. 3 spot.

Moltzan won bronze in the giant slalom on Thursday, edging Thea Louise Stjernesund by just 0.01 seconds for the first individual worlds medal of her career. It’s also the fourth medal won in as many races for the U.

United States' Paula Moltzan competes in a women's giant slalom, at the Alpine Ski World Championships, in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)