Mark DesRosiers/Imagn
By most accounts, Mikaela Shiffrin is the best women’s alpine skier on the planet. In fact, Shiffrin may very well best alpine skier, man or woman, to every compete. Her 99 World Cup victories rank first all-time among both men and women, and at 18 years and 345 days old, she became the youngest slalom golf medalist in Olympic history.
Shiffrin is a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and a five-time Overall World Cup champion and very much still at the top of her game. But she recently learned the hard way how quickly things can go away.
On November 30, 2024, Shiffrin suffered a gnarly crash while competed in the the giant slalom at an FIS World Cup event in Killington, Vermont. She sustained a puncture wound to her right abdomen during the crash. After being taken to the hospital, Shiffrin learned that she nearly punctured her abdominal wall and her colon. She told The Associated Press last month that her injury was “a millimeter from pretty catastrophic.”
Shiffrin has since returned, but with the World Championships looming, she announced that she will not defend her world title in the giant slalom as she deals with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder due to the crash.
“I’ve poured all of my energy into getting my giant slalom in shape to be prepared to start World Champs GS in Saalbach on Thursday. The long-story-short is…I’m not there. Right now, I feel quite far away. I’m currently working through some mental obstacles in order to return to the GS start with the intensity required for racing,” Shiffrin said on Instagram.
“Honestly, I really didn’t anticipate experiencing so much of this kind of mental/PTSD struggle in GS from my injury in Killington. Like always, I tried diving into the challenge, hoping to get there by Worlds. I figured my passion and longing to compete would outweigh the mental barriers. Maybe that will be the case over time, but I’m not there yet. Coming to terms with how much fear I have doing an event that I loved so dearly only 2 months ago has been soul-crushing.”
Shiffrin still plans to race in the slalom, her best event and one that includes lower speeds, on Sunday. But for now, the world’s best is going to take some time to get back to her best.