Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Which Olympic Skiing Gold Medal Was the Most Impressive? (Poll)

Originally posted on Powder | By Ian Greenwood | Last updated Feb 23, 2026 1:28 PM ET

The Winter Olympics have wrapped up and, as expected, delivered more than a few performances we’ll be thinking about for a long time.

Vote for which performance was the most impressive. Keep reading for a breakdown of each Gold Medal.

(We’re limited to four options, so inevitably, some runs will be missing. Did someone knock your socks off more than one of these athletes? Drop their name in the comments.)

POWDER Weekly Poll

Breezy Johnson shows off her new gold.Al Bello/Getty Images

Breezy Johnson, Downhill

Breezy Johnson’s gold medal performance in the downhill set the tone of the Games early. The American had nabbed her first Olympic medal at the high point of a long ski racing career beset by injury setbacks. In the end, all the hard work paid off, and we got to catch the emotional moment live.

Diego Souto/Getty Images

Mikaela Shiffrin, Slalom

Mikaela Shiffrin, too, delivered gold. Surrounded by expectations and narratives about the 2022 Beijing Games, where she didn’t podium once, Shiffrin proved that the noise wasn’t enough to dull the shine of her slalom skills. Her legacy, which already included a record-setting 108 World Cup wins, was more than assured whether or not she won another gold. Now, it’s even brighter.

Photo: Jeff PACHOUD/AFP via Getty Images

Alex Ferreira, Halfpipe

At these Games, Alex Ferreira had dreams of completing his “set”—previously, the halfpipe skier had taken Olympic bronze and silver. It wasn’t clear if he would pull it off in the final. During his last run, though, Ferreira put down a squeaky clean, monstrous series of tricks, eking out a win in a hotly contested competition.

Photo: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

Eileen Gu, Halfpipe

Eileen Gu, who was born in America but competes for her mother’s home country, China, has been in the headlines far more than the average Olympian. The often vitriolic debate around her decision was magnetic, impossible to avoid, and a reminder that these Games have been saddled with more political discourse than any other we can remember.

What won’t involve hot takes, though, is the fact that at only 22, Gu has cemented herself as a generational talent. She won halfpipe gold at the end of these Games. Context makes the feat more impressive: Gu has claimed a medal in all six Olympic freeski events she’s entered since 2022, and placed no lower than second.

This article first appeared on Powder and was syndicated with permission.

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