Mikaela Shiffrin Reflects on Recovery After Crash, Announces Her Comeback in Courchevel on the 30th

Mikaela Shiffrin of the Stifel US Ski Team announced her return to the World Cup stage on Instagram, with her participation in the slalom race in Courchevel on January 30th.

The 29-year-old superstar was going for her 100th World Cup win during the giant slalom on November 30 in Killington, Vermont, when she had a nasty crash in her second run. Shiffrin sped over a gate and ended up in the netting, injuring her oblique muscle.

After the crash, Shiffrin stated, “It is a deep puncture wound with quite a lot of severe muscle trauma. I was really lucky because it was probably like a millimeter from my colon.”

She had to have surgery which involved clearing the fluid and addressing torn muscle near her pelvis. It has been a longer process of recovery than her and her team had anticipated.

Nevertheless, she has remained positive throughout the recovery and continued to state that luck was on her side. She explained, “There’s a fair amount of luck involved. On one hand, you create your own luck through preparation and hard work. On the other hand, I have gratitude for not going through that gate with my neck or having the impact hit my colon.”

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Mikaela Shiffrin remains sidelined after her fall in Killington (USA) during a Giant Slalom event on Nov. 30, 2024. The injury, which involved an abdominal puncture from her ski pole, has kept fans guessing about her return to the World Cup circuit this winter.

Shiffrin has offered glimpses into her recovery exclusively through her social media channels. In a recent Instagram post, she responded to a fan question by sharing three positive milestones from her week. “I can laugh, I could start driving this week, and my abs are starting to come back,” Shiffrin said. She added that regaining abdominal strength has required significant effort but expressed optimism.

While her remarks have given fans hope, Shiffrin has not provided a timeline for her return. Whether she will compete again this season remains uncertain.

Stay tuned for updates as Mikaela Shiffrin continues her recovery journey.

Mikaela Shiffrin Recovering at Home with her wound drain she named Steve,

The World Cup record-breaker is recovering at home in Colorado and reflecting on how luck and centimeters can make or break a day.

Following unexpected surgery last Thursday, Mikaela Shiffrin doesn’t know when she’ll return to racing.

The 29-year-old skier was chasing her 100th World Cup victory during the Nov. 30 giant slalom in Killington, Vermont, when she crashed violently in the second run. She slid at high speed over a gate and into the netting, puncturing her oblique muscle.

Still unsure whether it was the gate or something else that caused the puncture, Shiffrin received immediate medical treatment. Doctors examined and cleaned the injury before giving her a wound vacuum to drain fluid. She returned home to Colorado, where she moved gingerly, taking short walks and doing minimal activity. By last Thursday, however, she felt poorly and went to the hospital, where she underwent surgery.

Surgery to Prevent Infection and Repair Muscle

“It is a deep puncture wound with quite a lot of severe muscle trauma. I was really lucky because it was probably like a millimeter from my colon,” Shiffrin said Saturday from her home in Edwards, Colorado. “The wound vac just wasn’t quite able to do the proper work to drain the fluid out of my body so it could heal. That’s where the surgery came in. We discovered a pocket of fluid that was untouched by the wound vac.”

The procedure involved clearing the fluid and addressing torn muscle near her pelvis.

“We were trying to avoid surgery because it meant opening up the area more, which causes a bit more damage,” she said. “In the end, it was probably the best option to clean out the wound and figure out what was going on in there. I was able to have my oblique reattached to my iliac crest. There was a layer that was torn away.”

While Shiffrin said she isn’t in much pain and can walk slowly and climb stairs, she admitted it’s too soon to predict when—or if—she’ll return this season.

A Longer Recovery Process

“I think if all things had gone perfectly and all the drainage just came out, we were pretty sure the season would be possible,” she said. “It just depends on how I improve over the next weeks and months. There’s not a lot of precedent for this injury in our sport.”

“We can look at acute oblique tears in baseball, hockey and other sports, but ski racing is different. When you think about the force of a GS turn or a slalom turn or a super-G turn, it’s hard to know what the muscle will withstand. We’re giving it a couple of weeks to see. I think we’ll get a clearer view each day of how it’s going to work.”

Although unsure how the injury occurred, Shiffrin knows exactly what led to the crash.

Centimeters That Change Everything

“I should have been more on my outside ski,” she said. “You’re racing at your limit, and there are fine margins in this sport. It’s a difference of just a couple of centimeters between crashing like that or winning a run. We have to be on the limit, and crashes do happen. If I was just a few feet lower or higher, I might have missed the gate entirely and just skied away.”

While disappointed to miss last weekend’s home super-G in Beaver Creek, Shiffrin remains grateful her crash and injury weren’t worse.

“There’s a fair amount of luck involved,” she said. “On one hand, you create your own luck through preparation and hard work. On the other hand, I have gratitude for not going through that gate with my neck or having the impact hit my colon.”

“I’ve had plenty of luck in my career. You can see how easily it goes wrong and how hard it is to just make it to the finish with a fast time on a daily basis. I’m grateful for how many times I’ve been able to do that.”

About the Author: Shauna Farnell

Ski Austria, U.S. Ski & Snowboard Announce Strategic Partnership

By Press Release Published On: January 24th, 2025

Featured Image: Cornelia Hütter (Austria) and Mikaela Shiffrin (USA). Credit: GEPA

U.S. Ski & Snowboard and Ski Austria, two of the world’s most renowned and successful national ski and snowboard associations, announced a partnership around sports, marketing, and commercial opportunities designed to leverage the unique expertise and resources of both organizations to achieve shared goals. It is U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s first commercial partnership with another country’s national ski and snowboard organization.?

The sport-specific aspect includes expanded training opportunities, as well as reciprocal access to world-class training facilities for both elite and development-level athletes in Austria and the United States. The collaboration also focuses on sharing expertise, including the exchange of best practices in coaching, athlete development, sport science, and performance optimization, as both organizations look to further innovate around sports performance.

From a commercial perspective, both organizations recognize the importance of leveraging their assets to maximize reach and revenue while delivering more value to their partners. Key areas include developing joint marketing initiatives to create shared opportunities for sponsors and media partners, as well as collaborating across social media, streaming platforms, and other digital assets to engage a broader global audience, as well as co-creating potential new events and experiences for athletes and fans.

“We are thrilled to embark on this deeper collaboration with the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team,” said Ski Austria CEO Christian Scherer. “By combining our strengths and expertise, we are confident in our ability to create a significant impact, delivering value not only to our athletes but also to our fans and business partners. This partnership reflects our shared ambition to drive innovation and inspire the next generation of skiers and snowboarders worldwide.”

“We are pleased to expand our relationship with Ski Austria,” said U.S. Ski & Snowboard President and CEO Sophie Goldschmidt. “Their expertise and excellence are evident, and we know this partnership will improve us both on and off the snow. We share a vision and ambition for the future of snow sports, and I can’t wait to see how we can make improvements together for our stakeholders and fans.”

This strategic partnership marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter in the relationship between Ski Austria and U.S. Ski & Snowboard. With both organizations’ impressive roster of elite athletes and continuing to host important international competitions, the partnership demonstrates both countries’ commitment to innovation and will further strengthen both organizations’ global presence.

Lindsey Vonn and American Downhillers Reflect on Cortina 2026 Olympic Course

By Brian Pinelli

Published On: January 23rd, 2025

The venerable 2,650-meter Olympia delle Tofane course inspires passion and captivates racers annually, even when they fall short of expectations. Last weekend in the historic Dolomites Olympic resort was no different.

Although Stifel U.S. Ski Team racers didn’t achieve the results they had hoped for in Cortina d’Ampezzo, it was an important and valuable final tune-up ahead of next year’s Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

Jackie Wiles posted the top U.S. result in the women’s downhill, finishing seventh, 0.99 seconds behind winner Sofia Goggia. Fresh off her maiden World Cup victory in St. Anton, Austria, Lauren Macuga was the top U.S. finisher in the super-G, taking 13th.

Lindsey Vonn continued her improbable comeback across four days on the familiar Italian slope. She finished 20th in the downhill and sustained two crashes – one in Thursday’s opening downhill training and the second abruptly ending her hopes in Sunday’s super-G. She walked away from both incidents, relatively unscathed.

Wiles Secures Top American Finish in Cortina

The 32-year-old Wiles from the Pacific Northwest, who was the first racer out of the gate, was pleased with her performance despite a few critical mistakes.

“I absolutely love this hill and had some confidence in training, but knew there was another level I could kick it up to,” Wiles said in the Cortina finish area after her downhill run. “I’m happy with the result – it’s been a slow start for me with downhill so far, so finally putting the training speed I’ve had into a race felt good.

“I’m really fast on the top and bottom, but the midsection super-G turns I just really got to link them up and get my timing down. If I can do that, I’ll be a lot faster,” she said.

Not surprisingly, the Olympia delle Tofane is a favored course of Wiles, who has attained two of her three career World Cup podiums in Cortina. Wiles sped to a runner-up finish last season, 0.35 seconds behind Norwegian Ragnhild Mowinckel.

Wiles remains confident on her favorite piste as she looks ahead to what could be her third Olympic Games next winter.

“There is still a lot that I can improve on and I don’t feel too far out. It was nice to see where I’m at, and it gives me confidence here for next year also,” she said.

Vonn Assesses Her Return to Cortina

The 40-year-old Vonn, in her fourth and fifth World Cup races since launching her comeback on a reconstructed titanium knee on Dec. 21, 2024, in St. Moritz, found numerous positives in her return to Cortina despite two crashes.

“In general, this weekend was really positive, but I couldn’t quite put it all together,” Vonn said after Sunday’s super-G fall. “It’s going to take a little time. I think last weekend went so well that everyone’s expectations were so high.”

Vonn exceeded expectations last weekend, finishing fourth and sixth in Austria.

“This is a journey that no one has taken before, so I’m trying to be patient. I need more training, I need more time. There is a lot of room for improvement, so the fact that I’m as fast as I am with as little preparation as I have is all really positive.

“I think it’s actually good that I didn’t do well this weekend because it leaves me hungry and hopefully for more next year,” Vonn said, perhaps alluding to competing at her fifth Olympic Games next February.

According to FIS, the well-traveled ski racer made her 400th career World Cup start on Sunday, racing a familiar piste where she has accumulated 12 victories over her two-decade-long career (six downhill, six super-G).

“It means that I’ve been here for a long time,” Vonn said with a laugh. “I think it just shows you how much I love skiing. Four hundred is a big number, but I’ve enjoyed every single start.”

Vonn is eight races short of Austrian Renate Goetschl’s World Cup starts record of 408.

Macuga All Smiles After St. Anton Breakthrough

One week after storming to her maiden World Cup victory in St. Anton, Austria, Macuga was unable to duplicate the magic in Cortina. However, the 22-year-old Park City racer skied well, scored points on both days, finishing 13th in the super-G and 16th in the downhill.

Macuga reflected on the journey to her recent success.

“These past few years, I’ve been figuring it out slowly, and everything has just been building and building – all through last year. Improving my confidence has been a huge factor,” Macuga said.

For Macuga, it was her third visit to races on the future Milan-Cortina Olympic slope. She described the keys to flourishing on the Italian Dolomites course.

“It’s huge to carry your speed coming off the pitches, but still you have to nail everything also,” Macuga said. “The snow is so insanely good, but you can’t be skidding or throwing your skis sideways because you’ll lose more time than if it was icy.

“It’s just so important to ski it clean and ski it right – it just flows well, which is so fun.”

Macuga envisioned what it might be like to charge down the Italian 1956 Olympic slope next winter with the eyes of the world watching.

“To compete here at the Olympics is a dream, and to do it here in Cortina would just be so amazing,” she said.

Wright: “You’ll see major send during the Olympics”

Isabella “Bella” Wright demonstrated her speed with top-10 times in both downhill training runs but didn’t execute as planned over consecutive race days.

Wright believes the Olympia delle Tofane will be the perfect piste for the ladies to pursue Olympic medals and glory. The 27-year-old from Salt Lake City will be striving to qualify for her second U.S. Olympic team.

“It’s so exciting to imagine it – this course is kind of like our Kitzbühel, so for the women to have the Olympics here on a course that everyone really enjoys, it’s just going to make the Olympics more entertaining and reliable too,” Wright said.

“I think you’re going to see some major send during the Olympics, and I think it will be very entertaining to watch,” she added.

Additional U.S. Finishers

Additional U.S. finishers in Saturday’s downhill included Breezy Johnson (22nd), Keely Cashman (28th), Allison Mollin (42nd), Tricia Mangan (44th), and Haley Cutler (45th).

Four U.S. women tallied points in Sunday’s super-G. Following Macuga’s leading result were Cashman (23rd), Mangan (24th), Johnson (25th), Wright (36th), Mary Bocock (39th), Wiles (43rd), and Mollin (45th).

Follow Brian on Instagram – @brian.pinelli

Mikaela Shiffrin’s Comeback: Overcoming Injury and Returning to World Cup Racing

By SR Staff ReportPublished On: January 23rd, 2025

Mikaela Shiffrin Courchevel: GEPA pictures

A Comeback, Not About 100 Wins

Mikaela Shiffrin is set to return to World Cup racing next week in Courchevel, France, marking an important milestone in her recovery. After a violent crash in Killington left her with severe oblique trauma and a puncture wound that came dangerously close to her colon, Shiffrin has spent the last seven weeks rebuilding her strength. While fans may focus on her pursuit of 100 World Cup wins, her priority is simply getting back on snow and finding her rhythm.

“This is part of the process,” Shiffrin explained. “I don’t feel 100% yet, but I feel good enough to race. Returning is a key step toward being fully back.”

Returning Under the Lights in Courchevel

Mikaela Shiffrin will make her highly anticipated return to racing at the Night Slalom in Courchevel, France, on Jan. 30. Known for its electrifying atmosphere and challenging course, the night slalom provides the perfect stage for Shiffrin to take the next step in her comeback. While she’s focused on progression and not chasing perfection, this race marks a significant milestone in her journey back to peak form. Fans around the world will be watching closely as the two-time Olympic champion tackles her first World Cup event since her injury.

A Team Effort

Shiffrin credits her rapid progress to the tireless work of her Stifel U.S. Ski Team staff, particularly her physiotherapist, Regan Dewhirst. Together, they tackled the unknowns of her recovery with determination, consulting experts from other sports to navigate the unique challenges of her injury.

“The last seven weeks have been grueling, but also amazing in what we’ve achieved,” Shiffrin said. “Regan and the team have been incredible in helping me get here.”

Mental Challenges and PTSD

The physical recovery is only part of Shiffrin’s journey. The crash and the severity of her injuries left a mental toll that she continues to navigate. Shiffrin openly acknowledges the element of PTSD involved in returning to competition after such a traumatic experience.

“People might not realize how life-threatening a crash like this can be,” she shared. “This wasn’t just a typical injury. A millimeter difference, and it could have been catastrophic. That’s something you carry with you as you step back into the start gate.”

She’s taking her return one step at a time, using the first race as a way to push past the lingering fears and rediscover her confidence on the slopes.

Inspired by Her Team

While sidelined, Shiffrin has taken pride in the success of her teammates. From Lauren Macuga’s strong performances to Paula Moltzan’s recent podium, the broader team’s achievements have motivated her.

“It’s been inspiring to watch the team while I’ve been away,” Shiffrin said. “I’m eager to return—not just to race but to be part of that energy again. I’ll feel even better once I get this first race back in the rear-view mirror.”

Looking Ahead

Shiffrin’s focus for the remainder of the season will be on giant slalom and slalom, especially at the World Championships in Austria next month. While she’s leaving the door open to racing super-G later in the season, it will depend on how much training volume she can manage.

“For now, it’s all about taking things one step at a time,” Shiffrin explained. “I want to make sure I’m building toward my best, without rushing the process.”

This comeback is more than a return to competition. It’s a testament to Shiffrin’s resilience, her team’s support, and her ability to overcome both physical and mental challenges to compete at the highest level once again.