Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States took gold in the women's giant slalom Thursday at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, where the sole Japanese entrant, Haruna Ishikawa, finished 33rd.

Shiffrin posted the second-fastest time on the first run and was fourth fastest the second time down the slope, finishing with a combined total of 2 minutes, 20.02 seconds. She is the undisputed queen of the slalom, as the defending Olympic champion, a three-time world champ, and on her way to a fifth World Cup overall slalom title.

Silver medalist Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway finished 0.39 second off the pace, while Italy's Federica Brignone took bronze after completing the two runs 0.46 second slower than the winner.

The 22-year-old Shiffrin, who became the youngest-ever Olympic slalom winner at Sochi in 2014, said that despite a rush of emotions, she felt confident of victory ahead of her second run at the Yongpyong Alpine Centre.

"I don't know how to explain it. It's crazy. There's so much emotion," Shiffrin said. "I don't know when it was, at some point today after the first run I thought...I can really win this."

Shiffrin will have just 24 hours before hitting the slopes again to defend her Olympic slalom title. Initially scheduled for Wednesday, the event was moved to Friday due to bad weather.

In her first Olympic competition, Ishikawa, 23, finished in 2:28.99.