Back on January 26th, Mikaela Shiffrin crashed into the netting at a World Cup event in Cortina d’Ampezzo. She luckily evaded a major injury, but a severe crash like this, which injured her left knee, takes time to recover from.
Last week, Mikaela gave an update on her social media pages about the recovery process. In an interview with CNN last week, Mikaela said she’s in the reconditioning phase of recovery. She couldn’t compete in Adorra this past weekend, as an official return date hasn’t been decided.
Today, Mikaela said the following to Ski Magazine about her mindset for returning to the World Cup cicruit:
“I just really want to do this right. There’s a lot at stake this season, and I feel that. But I also feel like the next few seasons, there’s just a lot of opportunity.”
For context, the 2025 world championships could see her break Christl Cranz’s record for most medals won. In 2026, the Winter Olympics will be happening in Italy.
She pointed out the number of injuries from skiers currently on the circuit, as the non-stop schedule has injured skiers like Sofia Goggia and her boyfriend Aleksander Aamodt Kilde. The World Cup is brutal, with races starting back in October, with racers getting minimal off time from training, competing, and talking with the media.
Over the weekend, Lara Gut-Behrami overtook Shiffrin in the overall women’s World Cup standings, so I imagine Mikaela is itching to get back out there soon. However, it seems like she’s content with waiting until she’s 100% in order to stay healthy for the years ahead.
Image Credits: Mikaela Shiffrin
