The U.S. Ski & Snowboard team has announced the pairs for the women’s team combined event at the 2026 Olympics following Lindsey Vonn’s crash during her downhill run on Sunday, February 8.
“Teams are selected by coaches using results-based criteria from evaluative events, including the 2026 Olympic downhill race,” Team USA said in the announcement on Monday, February 9. “The top downhill skier will be paired with the top slalom skier and so on through four teams.”
The announcement continued, “Highlighting the team will be the newly crowned 2026 downhill Olympic champion, Breezy Johnson, paired with the most successful alpine skier in the modern era, Mikaela Shiffrin. Both Shiffrin and Johnson will look to add another medal for Team USA and continue their golden run, having won gold at the 2025 World Championships in the team combined.”
Additional women’s pairs will include Jackie Wiles (downhill) & Paula Moltzan (slalom), Bella Wright (downhill) & Nina O’Brien (slalom) and Keely Cashman (downhill) & AJ Hurt (slalom).
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The men’s team will consist of Kyle Negomir (downhill) & River Radamus (slalom).
“It is the first time the event will be seen at the Olympic Winter Games. The event consists of two runs: one downhill and one slalom,” the announcement concluded. “The fastest combined time from both runs combined wins the event.”
The men’s team events will take place on Monday, while the women’s teams will race on Tuesday, February 10.
Vonn, 41, is notably absent from the women’s pairs after she was airlifted off the skiing course with an injury 13 seconds into her downhill run on Sunday. Her right ski pole clipped a gate, which led to the accident.
Vonn could be heard screaming in pain while being attended to by medical staff following her crash on the Olympia delle Tofane course in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
“Lindsey Vonn sustained an injury, but is in stable condition and in good hands with a team of American and Italian physicians,” the U.S. Ski & Snowboard team said in a statement after the crash.
Team USA later shared an update stating that Vonn was “in stable condition and in good hands with a team of American and Italian physicians.”
In another update, Italian hospital Ca’ Foncello stated that Vonn was “treated by a multidisciplinary team” and “underwent an orthopedic operation to stabilize a fracture reported in her left leg.”
Vonn had been skiing on a torn ACL following a similar accident during her World Cup Race in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, on January 30.
“I also sustained a bone bruise (which is a common injury when you tear your ACL), plus meniscal tears but it’s unclear how much of that was there previously and what was new from the crash,” she wrote via Instagram on February 3.
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Despite the injury, Vonn said she still planned to compete in the 2026 Olympics.
“Of course I will still need to do one training run, as is required to race on Sunday, but… I am confident in my body’s ability to perform. Despite my injuries my knee is stable, I do not have swelling and my muscles are firing and reacting as they should,” she continued. “I will obviously be continuing to evaluate with my medical team on a daily basis to make sure we are making smart decisions but I have every intention of competing on Sunday.”
Vonn’s latest injury comes one year after she rallied to be paired with Shiffrin, 30, in the women’s combined race at the skiing world championships in 2025. Though Vonn said at the time that she and Shiffrin would be a “dream team,” Shiffrin was ultimately paired with Johnson, 30. Meanwhile, Vonn was paired with AJ Hurt.
“Why am I not surprised?” Vonn tweeted. Later, in a public statement, Vonn said of her reaction to the news, “Maybe I didn’t help myself or the team by having my Twitter fingers out. But at the same time, I’m a human being and I was disappointed in the communication. And I let my feelings be known. I’m a human. I have feelings. So shoot me.”
