Team USA’s Mikaela Shiffrin ended her eight-year Olympic drought by winning her first medal in two Olympics – and it was a gold! Winning just 1.50 seconds ahead of the silver medalist, Shiffrin became the Olympic Champion in the combined slalom freestyle skiing event at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina.
Shiffrin took to her Instagram account to celebrate her gold medal win with a post that garnered recognition from none other than Taylor Swift! To commemorate the Olympian’s gold medal success, Swift gave the skier three Olympic gold medals in emoji form alongside the word “HISTORIC” to mark Shiffrin’s third gold medal. Here are the origins of the celebration Mikaela Shiffrin has had with Taylor Swift.
How the Shiffrin-Swift Celebration Came to Be
GettyOlympic gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin
After winning her third career gold medal and her first gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Team USA’s Mikaela Shiffrin took to social media to post a photo of herself on the slalom ski slopes alongside lyrics from Taylor Swift’s song “Ruin the Friendship” from the ablum The Life of a Showgirl which the singer released in October 2025.
“The lyrics go into some loss and regret and things like that, but at the end of the day, when I started out this season listening to the album, I kept putting on ‘Ruin the Friendship,’ ‘cause I’m like, ‘This is what I want to feel what I’m in the start gate. I want to go. I just want to leave it all behind and ruin the friendship,’” revealed Shiffrin in an interview with People.
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The American skier’s success got the attention of “The Fate of Ophelia” singer because Shiffrin’s Instagram post promptly received a comment from Taylor Swift complimenting her performance on the slopes and congratulating her triple-gold medal success.
Taylor Swift Has Supported Team USA’s Athletes During the 2026 Winter Olympics
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Taylor Swift has shown that she is an avid supporter of Team USA’s athletes during the 2026 Winter Olympics as she not only publicly congratulated Mikaela Shiffrin’s gold medal win, but also Breezy Johnson’s first place podium finish alongside the downhill skier’s engagement at The Olympic Games.
In her comment on Johnson’s engagement post, Swift quotes her own song lyrics in saying, “”Where’s the trophy? He just comes running over to me” CONGRATULATIONS!!!”
In total, the United States won 33 medals at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina. A historic total of 12 of those medals are now gold after the U.S. men’s hockey team won against Canada with a goal by Jack Hughes in overtime of the final match. The 2026 Winter Paralympics begin in March.
Mikaela Shiffrin Gold Medal Celebration With Taylor Swift Explained