Following a crash in November that resulted in a deep puncture wound and severe trauma to her oblique muscles, American skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin has announced that she will not be defending her gold medal in giant slalom at the Alpine skiing world championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria.
Shiffrin revealed that she is currently dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of the fall she suffered during a race in Killington, Vermont. The injury, which was described as being a millimeter away from catastrophic, has left her mentally blocked and struggling to reach her previous levels of performance.
Despite her initial hopes of overcoming her fears once in Europe for training, Shiffrin expressed her disappointment at not being able to compete at her best in the giant slalom event, which she won at the last world championships in France two years ago.
Shiffrin, who recently returned to competition with a 10th place finish in a slalom event, will still participate in the slalom race at the world championships. She has also decided to enter the team combined event, pairing with downhill gold medalist Breezy Johnson.
The combined event involves one racer competing in a downhill run and another in a slalom run, with their times combined for the final results. Shiffrin expressed her excitement at teaming up with Johnson, with whom she has a long history of racing together.
Shiffrin's decision to skip the giant slalom at the world championships is aimed at allowing her more time to recover and prepare for her return to the event on the World Cup circuit in Sestriere, Italy, where she aims to achieve her 100th World Cup victory.
