Mikaela Shiffrin — Doing OK after WCup giant slalom crash

KILLINGTON, Vt. – American ski racer Mikaela Shiffrin said Saturday she was OK after crashing in her second run of a world championships giant slalom circuit when she flipped and slid into the protective fence.

Shiffrin stayed down on the edge of the slope for a while as ski patrol attended to her. She was taken off the hill on a sled and waved to the cheering crowd. The U.S. Ski Team said she was taken to a medical clinic for evaluation.

In a post on social media later Saturday, Shiffrin said, aside from a strain that prevented her from moving, she was fine.

“I’m so sorry to scare everybody,” Shiffrin said. “Looks like all scans are clear so far. Thanks for the support and concern.”

Shiffrin, 29, led after the first race and charged for his 100th World Cup win. She was within sight of the finish line, five gates into Killington’s steep finish course, when she lost her grip on her outside ski. She hit a gate and somersaulted before sliding into another gate. The fencing slowed her momentum as she came to an abrupt halt.

Reigning Olympic GS champion Sara Hector of Sweden won in a combined time of 1 minute, 53.08 seconds. But her thoughts were with Shiffrin.

“Obviously it’s just so sad to see Mikaela crash like that and ski so well,” Hector said on the broadcast after his win. “It breaks my heart and everyone else here.”

The crash was a surprise as Shiffrin rarely records a DNF for not finishing. In 275 WC starts she has only 19 DNFs. The last time she did not finish in GS was January 2018.

Saturday was shaping up to be a banner day for Shiffrin, who skied flawlessly in her first run and held a 0.32-second lead as she chased her 100th World Cup win in front of a home crowd. Shiffrin grew up in New Hampshire and Colorado and honed her skills at nearby Burke Mountain Academy.

Shiffrin is not driven so much by wins as by making the perfect race. She has broken so many records along the way. She passed Lindsey Vonn’s women’s mark of 82 World Cup victories on 24 January 2023 during a giant slalom in Kronplatz, Italy.

Almost two months later, Shiffrin broke Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark’s alpine mark for most World Cup victories when she captured her 87th career race.

Shiffrin has not suffered as many devastating injuries as many skiers have. In her 14-year career, she has only had to rehabilitate two injuries that occurred on the hill: a torn MCL and bone bruise in her right knee in December 2015 and a sprained MCL and tibiofibular ligament in her left knee after a crash downhill in January 2024. Neither knee injury required surgery, and both times Shiffrin was back to running within two months.

To date, she has achieved 5 overall World Championship titles, 2 Olympic gold medals, along with a silver, and 7 World Championships.

Shiffrin’s signature event, the slalom, will be held on Sunday. She has won six of the seven slalom races she has entered in Killington, but said she will not compete Sunday.

“Thank you for your cheers and support,” she wrote. “I wish my teammates the best of luck tomorrow! I’ll be cheering from the sidelines on this one.”

Meanwhile, fans hoping to see the world’s best female skiers compete next week in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, are out of luck. That WC stop was canceled on Saturday because the weather has not been cold enough to produce the necessary snow.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.