Mikaela Shiffrin made her comeback to competitive skiing after a serious injury, finishing 10th in the World Cup slalom event in Courchevel. The American skier had been sidelined for two months following a crash at the Stifel Killington Cup in Vermont on November 30, which resulted in a puncture wound to her abdomen and significant muscle trauma. This injury delayed her pursuit of a historic 100th World Cup win.
Despite the setback, Shiffrin expressed a positive outlook on her performance in Courchevel, especially with the World Championships approaching. “It was a very important step in my recovery to see how I’m stacking up with the top skiers in the world and to see what I can work on to improve my skiing,” she shared with Eurosport after the race.
Shiffrin clocked a total time of 1:47.10 across both runs, finishing 2.04 seconds behind the winner, Zrinka Ljutić of Croatia. Ljutić claimed victory, edging out Sweden’s Sara Hector by 1.26 seconds and Germany’s Lena Dürr, who finished third, 1.28 seconds behind the winner.
Mikaela Shiffrin is still in a strong position to achieve a record-breaking 100th World Cup victory this season, which would put her 14 wins ahead of any other skier, male or female, in history. However, she has emphasized that her main focus now is on the upcoming World Championships, which will be held in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria, next month.
“Before the World Championships, it was crucial for me to get this race in,” Shiffrin said. “For sure, I want to perform well in both the giant slalom and slalom events at the World Championships. A lot depends on how the next 10 days go in training.”
She added, “We have a great plan to get some solid days on snow, and I’m closing the gap to the fastest skiers in the world. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but I’m happy to be back and excited to push forward.”