Finishing fourth when medals are on the line can feel like cruel punishment.Paula Moltzan knows the feeling all too well.Already at this year's Alpine skiing world championships, she was on the U.S. squad that finished fourth in the mixed team parallel event.

Italian Federica Brignone will go into a home Olympics as a reigning world champion, while Minnesotan Paula Moltzan is a first-time individual world medalist, 12-plus years after her debut at ski racing’s highest level.

Italy's Federica Brignone and New Zealand's Alice Robinson blew away the field Thursday, with Moltzan sneaking into the No. 3 spot.