Paula Moltzan’s detour to college has her wearing Olympic bronze — and still a medal threat
Paula Moltzan arrived at these Olympics not as a comeback curiosity but as one of the U. S. Alpine team’s brightest competitors. She already has an Olympic bronze from the team combined and still has two individual events left, including the giant slalom where she arrives among the favorites. Her path — cut from the national team in her early 20s, then rebuilt at the University of Vermont — reads like a study in resilience and patient development.
From being cut to finding a new route
Moltzan’s career nearly derailed more than a decade ago when the national program told her she didn’t have the upside they wanted. At 21 she faced a stark choice: try to fund an independent World Cup campaign or step away from the pro circuit. She chose college racing, enrolling at the University of Vermont and studying biology while competing for the Catamounts.
That three-year collegiate stretch proved transformative. Under a structured team environment she regained confidence, sharpened technique and learned to manage the mental side of racing — the “governor” that tells a racer when to push and when to hold back. She won the NCAA slalom title as a freshman and never missed a podium that season, achievements that helped relaunch her World Cup prospects and eventually earned her a return to the national team.
Moltzan’s route underscores a broader point about athlete development in Alpine skiing: progress is rarely linear. Time in a collegiate program gave her space to grow both as a racer and a person, and it helped convert early talent into consistent World Cup capability.
Olympic momentum: a team bronze and more to come
At the Milan-Cortina Games, Moltzan delivered a composed slalom leg to secure the team combined bronze alongside Jacqueline Wiles, closing out a tense contest in tricky conditions. That medal made her the only American Alpine woman in these Games who already holds hardware while still having individual starts left.
Her individual schedule includes the giant slalom, with first run set for Sunday at 4: 00 a. m. ET and the second run at 7: 30 a. m. ET, followed by the slalom on Wednesday. Moltzan has been a strong performer this season in giant slalom — multiple podiums on the World Cup circuit have established her as a legitimate medal threat whenever she’s in the start gate. Even the team event illustrated her ability to deliver under pressure and read difficult snow and light conditions.
Teammates and coaches have praised the balance she brings: technical precision married to strategic aggression when conditions demand it. That blend makes her dangerous in both slalom and giant slalom, and it explains why key teammates consider her one of the most consistent GS skiers on the roster this season.
Community support and the long view
Moltzan’s rise has prompted hometown celebrations and local support networks that have followed her from Vermont racefields to the Olympic slopes. Community watch parties and sponsor-driven events have highlighted how her story resonates beyond the World Cup circuit — it’s a hometown narrative of persistence and pride.
At 31, with an Olympic medal secured and two individual opportunities remaining, Moltzan embodies a modern athlete’s long arc: early promise, a painful setback, a strategic detour, and a steady climb back to the sport’s biggest stage. Whether she adds to her medal collection in the coming days or not, her presence in the mix for giant slalom and slalom remains a reminder that career detours can, with the right fit and resolve, become the pathways to peak performance.
