After a seven-week rollercoaster ride: American ski star Shiffrin is about to make an emotional comeback

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Ups and downs are part of a sports career. The emotional rollercoaster that Mikaela Shiffrin (28) has experienced in recent weeks remains difficult.

The American ski queen will not be 100 percent fit for the first races in 2024. She is ill, finishes ninth in the giant slalom in Kranjska Gora (Slo) and is eliminated from the slalom. Shiffrin draws conclusions from this and cancels the speed weekend in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee (Austria) in mid-January.

But instead of focusing on getting healthy, she has to watch her friend Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (31) fall heavily in the finish S of the Lauberhorn run. She immediately rushes to Bern to support him. “To be honest, he is very lucky to be alive,” she later gives an insight into her emotional world on X.

Tears and victory after shock

Three days after the shock, she put her worries aside and won the night slalom in Flachau (Ö). Her tears at the finish show how emotional it all is for her. Nevertheless, she also reached the podium in the next two technical races and celebrated her 95th World Cup victory. The 100 mark is becoming increasingly tangible and no one seems to be able to deny her sixth overall World Cup victory – until the momentous January 26.

That day Shiffrin flies into the nets in Cortina d’Ampezzo (It). She lies down for a long time and when she gets up again, the ski poles are converted into crutches. She is not putting weight on her left leg and there are major concerns that Shiffrin has seriously injured herself. Hours later the all-clear was given: she suffered “only” an outer ligament injury in her left knee. Still, she won’t return to skiing for a while, leaving the rest of the season open.

Shiffrin is excited about Gut-Behrami

And she has to watch as she is overtaken in the overall World Cup. Since Shiffrin took a break, one athlete has made a big impression: Lara Gut-Behrami (32). The Swiss participates in nine races and wins five. On February 10, she overtook the American with her victory in the giant slalom in Soldeu (And) and turned a deficit of 340 points into a lead of 385 points.

Even Shiffrin is enthusiastic: “Lara was impressive to watch. She is really at a very high level at the moment.” And admits she copied the big ball. Instead, she is happy with her sixth nomination as World Athlete of the Year – and the successes of her teammates, who reached the podium in her absence. Even though she would rather be there and celebrate with them.

She will probably be able to do that again soon. Because Shiffrin is doing a slalom run for the first time in almost seven weeks, as she shows on Instagram. “Some progress is more satisfying than others,” she writes. “Today was a satisfying day.” Whether there is actually enough for a start in Are (Sd) will become clear next weekend. (beer)

Source : Blick