BEIJING (AP) 鈥� Michelle Gisin followed the advice of her teammates to the letter. She drank wine, she skied fast.
Very fast.
Gisin won her second straight Olympic title in the combined race on Thursday, six days after taking bronze in the super-G.
The victory gave Switzerland its fifth Alpine gold medal of the Beijing Games. No country has ever won so many Alpine events at one Winter Games.
鈥淚 had a glass of wine before the super-G with Loic (Meillard) and Luca (Aerni) and they wrote on my door after super-G, 鈥榙rink wine, ski fast,鈥� so I drank a glass of wine with them again yesterday, of course,鈥� the 28-year-old Gisin said. 鈥淎nd look at that, it seems to work for me very well.鈥�
Gisin was 12th after the downhill portion of the race but she really turned it on in the afternoon. Skiing through falling snow, she finished the slalom run 0.87 seconds faster than anyone else.
鈥淥ne of the slalom runs of my life,鈥� Gisin said.
Swiss teammate Wendy Holdener ended up with silver, finishing more than a second behind, for her second medal of the Beijing Games. Federica Brignone of Italy was third, also winning her second medal in China.
The record for most medals in Alpine skiing at a single Olympics is 14 set by Austria at the 2006 Turin Games.
Winning big-time medals isn鈥檛 really a surprise for Gisin. Although she has only won one World Cup race in her career, she also won gold in the combined at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics and silver and bronze in the discipline at the 2017 and 2021 world championships, respectively.
Her medal haul in China wasn鈥檛 exactly predictable, though, especially after being ill with mononucleosis in July.
鈥淚t was the craziest rollercoaster ever. It鈥檚 so beautiful and there are so many people I have to say thank you to,鈥� Gisin said. 鈥淏ecause it鈥檚 all thanks to them that they brought me here, without any training and with the illness and everything, to be here today and to win is all thanks to them.鈥�
Switzerland鈥檚 other gold medalists at the Beijing Games are Corinne Suter in the women鈥檚 downhill, Lara Gut-Behrami in the women鈥檚 super-G, Marco Odermatt in the men鈥檚 giant slalom and Beat Feuz in the men鈥檚 downhill.
Holdener said the cheery atmosphere within has been transferred to winning on the slopes.
鈥淲e were happy with the snow. We like the slopes. I think we are a really competitive team, and that鈥檚 pushed us,鈥� said Holdener, who earlier won bronze in the slalom. 鈥淚f the atmosphere is so good it also helps that you want to be there as well.
鈥淭he atmosphere is really cool. The team is an easy atmosphere and you want to perform as well as the others, and that motivates.鈥�
Brignone won her earlier medal 鈥� silver 鈥� in the giant slalom, finishing just ahead of Gisin. She said Thursday鈥檚 medal was 鈥渦nexpected but expected.鈥�
鈥淚n combined in the last five years, I鈥檝e been one of the best,鈥� the Italian said. 鈥淚n the big events, I never did it so it鈥檚 my first combined medal and I鈥檓 pretty happy and proud.鈥�
Mikaela Shiffrin has been a big-race skier for her entire career, but in the combined. The two-time Olympic champion was fifth-fastest in the downhill portion but went out without making it to the bottom in the slalom leg.
Shiffrin, who has won Olympic gold in slalom and giant slalom and silver in combined in the past, still has a chance to win another gold medal in the team event.
Switzerland, the defending champion in the event, will also have a chance for gold 鈥� a record-extending sixth of the Beijing Games.
___
More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Daniella Matar, The Associated Press
