Mikaela Shiffrin and Breezy Johnson take on the world in Cortina d’Ampezzo on Tuesday

Veteran sportswriter Richard Deitsch takes an international view of the Olympics.

It’s easy to criticize the International Olympic Committee because, well, they give you a lot to work with on topics such as hypocrisy, inconsistency and pomposity. But an area where the international body deserves praise is recognizing they needed to change their sport program to attract a global audience with more entertainment options than ever before. 

That’s the case with the team combined event in alpine skiing, a thrilling watch featuring national teams made up of two skiers (one in the downhill and one in slalom) working together for the best combined times of each pairing. The Milano-Cortina Olympic Games represents the first time the combined event is part of the Olympic program. 

The women’s event begins tomorrow — the downhill starts at 4:30 a.m. ET, with the slalom going at 8:30 a.m. ET. One of the American teams features Mikaela Shiffrin, the winningest alpine skier in history, and Milano-Cortina Olympic downhill champion Breezy Johnson. The pair won the first-ever women's team combined title at the 2025 World Alpine Ski Championships. It’s a big day for Shiffrin, who makes her debut at these Games.

The Italians will be strong with downhill bronze medallist Sofia Goggia pairing with Lara Della Mea. Germany has Milano-Cortina downhill silver medallist Emma Aicher pairing with Kira Weidle-Winkelmann. The U.S. also has an interesting second pair in Jackie Wiles (downhill) and Paula Moltzan (slalom). It’s going to be a fantastic watch.

The men’s team combined event was held on Monday and Switzerland was crowned as Olympic champion behind Franjo von Allmen and Tanguy Neff. It’s the second gold medal for von Allmen (the