Mikaela Shiffrin will not defend her title in the women’s giant slalom at the World Alpine Skiing Championships due to the lingering effects of a crash she had in November.
The American record-holder with 99 World Cup wins made the announcement Monday in an Instagram post, saying she’s ‘working through some mental obstacles’ after suffering a deep puncture wound to her abdomen during a giant slalom race in Killington, Vermont.
‘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,’ she wrote.
Shiffrin, the most successful skier in modern world championships history, went on to explain the source of her struggles.
‘Honestly, I really didn’t anticipate experiencing so much of this kind of mental/PTSD struggle in GS from my injury in Killington,’ she wrote. ‘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 did say, however, that she would compete in the Team Combined at the worlds, which are being held in Saalbach, Austria. The official start list has not beeen posted, but Shiffrin said she would be paired with teammate Breezy Johnson, who on Saturday won gold in the women’s downhill. The Team Combined is a new addition to the world championships, pairing skiiers in the slalom and downhill and adding their times together.
Shiffrin is the most successful skier in modern world championships history, winning seven gold medals and 14 total medals in 17 individual race starts dating back to 2013.