An Olympic bronze medal could be making its way from Milan, Italy all the way back to Charlemont in the near future.
Charlemont resident Paula Moltzan, 31, captured the medal along with teammate Jacqueline Wiles in the U.S. women’s team alpine skiing combined event on Feb. 10. The duo’s combined time was 2:21.91, which was just ahead of teammates Breezy Johnson and Mikaela Shiffrin.
Moltzan skied in the slalom portion of the event, finishing with a time of 44.87 seconds. Wiles handled the downhill portion (1:37.04). Moltzan’s time was the fourth fastest in the event. She then had to nervously watch her partner in the giant slalom.
“I was freaking out the whole time. I was talking to her as if she could hear me,” Moltzan told NBC’s “Today” program. “I was like ‘C’mon Jackie, you’ve got this.’ I was shaking. I was sweating.”
For Wiles, she also had the fourth fastest time. Shiffrin’s 15th place finish in the slalom gave Moltzan and Wiles the bronze medal by .06 seconds. Austria’s Ariane Raedler and Katharina Huber won gold. Kira Weidle-Winkelmann and Emma Aicher of Germany won silver in the combined event.
“I feel like actually after getting a medal with Jackie, I feel like I can take a deep breath and really just like focus on my competition and think about how the skiing is going to go and let go of the fact that the medal pressure is not really there anymore,” Moltzan said on “Today.”
Moltzan also competed in the slalom and giant slalom for the United States at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre. On Feb. 18, Moltzan placed eighth in the slalom (+2.19). Shiffrin won gold for the United States (1:39.10). Shiffrin has three gold medals for her career and is the only two-time slalom goal medalist in U.S. history.
In the giant slalom on Feb. 15, Moltzan was 15th (+1.27). Federica Brignone of Italy took gold in the event (2:13.50).
The medal is Moltzan’s first in Olympic competition. Milano-Cortina is her second trip to Olympic competition. In 2022 in Beijing, she finished eighth in the slalom, 12th in the giant slalom and fourth in team competition.
Moltzan moved to Charlemont in 2015. After the 2022 Olympics, she returned to Berkshire East Mountain Resort soon afterwards to do some skiing and visit with young skiers. She is originally from Minnesota. Moltzan joined the U.S. Ski Team at age 17 and spent five years on it before leaving her home state to attend the University of Vermont in 2017, where she captured an NCAA championship in the slalom.