Ryan Cochran-Siegle has proven 2022 wasn’t a one-off.
The American alpine skier secured his second consecutive silver medal in the men’s super-G on Wednesday morning in Bormio.
“I was just happy to ski how I wanted to ski today,” Cochran-Siegle told NBC after the race. “I mean, it’s super emotional. It’s great.”
Cochran-Siegle admitted he did not expect the podium finish again. Nor did he expect to win on the 54th anniversary of his mother, Barbara Cochran, winning gold in the women’s slalom at the 1972 Sapporo Olympics.
His mom and his fiancé Jessie watched from the finish area.
“I was selfish and I wasn’t sure if I wanted my mom to come here, just because it is such a big event,” Cochran-Siegle said. “She was a little sick the last few days too, so I got to see her from a balcony yesterday, but I haven’t actually seen her in person, [that’ll] be nice. And then obviously, Jesse, too. She’s a huge part of my life. Sharing this moment with them is cool. I did not expect this, but obviously it’s nice to bring home some hardware.”
After a great run, the Burlington, Vt. native took the top of the leaderboard with a time of 1:25.45 as the third skier to fly down the course.
However, Switzerland’s Franjo von Allmen stole the gold medal, crossing the finish line only 0.13 seconds faster than Cochran-Siegle (1:25.32).
Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt rounded out the podium for the bronze (1:25.60).
2026 WINTER OLYMPICS
Von Allmen, who is in his first Olympics, won his third gold medal in five days and became the fourth alpine skier ever to claim three gold medals at a single Winter Games.
He also also took gold in the men’s downhill Saturday morning, which Cochran-Siegle was also pining for.
The silver medal was a bit of redemption for the 33-year-old, who had a disappointing downhill run over the weekend.
Heading into that race, two-time Olympic gold medalist turned NBC analyst, Ted Ligety, said Cochran-Siegle “redecorated the gondola” as he fought off food poisoning.
“Coming into these Games, I was so focused on the downhill,” Cochran-Siegle said. “Felt like that was my opportunity. But super-G, she’s a fickle lover at times, knowing that [meant] anything could happen.”
“I knew the conditions weren’t probably going to be that favorable going through the race. When Marco [Odermatt] came down behind me I felt like I knew [I was good] because he is such an incredible skier,” he added. “On any given day he can win. But yeah, it was definitely through [Vincent] Kriechmayr as well. It was slow wave moments of high emotion and now we’re kind of settling in. I definitely can’t believe it.”
The silver medal makes Cochran-Siegle the first man and fourth U.S. alpine skier to claim an Olympic medal in Milan.
He joins women’s downhill gold medalist Breezy Johnson, and team combined bronze medalists Jackie Wiles and Paula Moltzan.