Ryan Cochran-Siegle turned in his best result since the 2022 Beijing Olympics on the 54th anniversary of his mother's gold medal slalom win in 1972.
BORMIO, ITALY — The Stelvio Ski Centre hadn't produced much joy for Americans during the men's Alpine skiing events of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.
Until now.
Ryan Cochran-Siegle won silver during the men's super-G competition on Wednesday, Feb. 11, following up his silver medal in the same event at the 2022 Beijing Games. Cochran-Siegle's victory comes on the 54th anniversary of his mother, Barbara Cochran, winning a slalom gold medal at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo.
Cochran-Siegle was the third overall racer down the mountain and slid into first place with a time of 1:25.45. However, it wasn’t enough of a lead to hold off Swiss sensation Franjo von Allmen.
Allmen moved into first place with a time of 1:25.32 — just 13 hundredths of a second ahead of Cochran-Siegle — and held onto the top position to pick up his third Olympic gold medal of the Games. Allmen took gold in men’s downhill and the team combined earlier in the week. He's the third skier to win three Olympic golds in a single Games and the first since France's Jean-Claude Killy in 1968.
Cochran-Siegle was able to hold off Marco Odermatt of Switzerland, who settled for bronze with a time of 1:25.60 despite entering the race as a heavy favorite. Odermatt leads the 2025-26 World Cup season standings in overall, super-G, downhill and giant slalom. He has won the last three super-G season titles.
Cochran-Siegle's second-place finish is his best Super-G result since the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
The 33-year-old Vermont native had been considered Team USA's best hope for a medal in men's Alpine skiing. Reaching the podium is a bit of an upset in skiing circles, given he finished 18th in the men's downhill four days before the super-G.
Cochran-Siegle had fared well previously in Bormio, Italy, though.
On Feb. 4, three days before the downhill competition, Cochran-Siegle posted a top downhill training time of 1:56.08. That was 0.16 ahead of Italy's Giovanni Franzoni and .40 faster than anyone else in the field.
Though Cochran-Siegle's silver in Beijing was Team USA's fourth in the super-G, no American had won the event since it debuted in 1988, with Norway and Austria splitting the past seven golds. Super-G combines the speed of downhill with the precision of slalom. It features wider curves than the other two slalom races and is held on the same slope as downhill.
Cochran-Siegle, who works in his family's maple syrup shop, is from a skiing family and credits his mother for his success.
"She taught me that a positive mindset can carry you through the toughest moments, and that even when the pressure is high, never forget to have fun," Cochran-Siegle said of his mom, according to Team USA's website. "That joy is where the magic begins."
Other Americans in the 2026 Super-G: Sam Morse (finished 23rd), Kyle Negomir (26th) and River Radamus (DNF).
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY Sports: USA skier Ryan Cochran-Siegle wins silver in super-G at Winter Olympics
Category: General Sports
