Redemption and an Olympic bronze medal for freestyle skier Megan Oldham
Megan Oldham knows what it’s like to come up just short—and she wouldn’t let it happen again at Milano Cortina 2026.
The 24-year-old freestyle skier came painfully close four years ago at Beijing 2022. She missed qualifying for the women’s slopestyle final by a single spot. Then, in the big air final, she missed the podium by a single spot, finishing fourth.
And on Day 3 at Milano Cortina 2026, a heavy crash on her second run of the slopestyle final brought her Olympic dreams into question once more.
READ: Megan Oldham captures ski slopestyle bronze at Milano Cortina 2026
Though she was sitting in third place at the time, she didn’t think her first run score of 69.76 would hold up as a podium finish. So despite the pain and disorientation of the fall, she knew she’d be dropping in for her third run.
“It’s really hard to reset after you have a crash like that and also just trying to think strategy-wise what run I was going to do,” said Oldham. “It’s hard to just figure out exactly what you need in that moment mentally, and I’m happy I was able to collect myself.”
Her third run was her finest, with clean execution and a score of 76.46. Then Oldham held her breath as Kirsty Muir of Great Britain, her strongest competition for the bronze, put down a clean third run of her own.
But as Muir’s score of 76.05 came up on the screen, Oldham knew that her spot on the Olympic podium was secure.
“I feel amazing. I’ve been dreaming of this moment for so long,” she said. “This is really what I was wanting in terms of redemption, and I’m just happy to land a clean run and be up on the podium.
“After my results in Beijing I was really, really hungry to make this one happen.”
Next for Oldham is a few days’ worth of rest, then preparation for the women’s big air final next week. And while her story in Beijing was double disappointment, perhaps her story at Milano Cortina 2026 will be double redemption.
“My goal coming here was at least to get one [podium] and so I’m just so proud of myself,” said Oldham. “I’m hoping to just continue with this momentum and I have some cool tricks to show in big air, so I’m excited for that.”