Mikaela Shiffrin announces mid-February return to the World Cup
Mikaela Shiffrin announced via social media on Monday morning that she intends to compete in next week’s World Cup slalom race in Crans Montana, Switzerland, an event rescheduled following the cancellation in Maribor, Slovenia. Shiffrin sustained a torn MCL, bone bruise, and hairline fracture during the warm-up for the Are giant slalom on Dec. 12, 2015. Following the injury, she told the Denver Post it was unlikely she would compete again in the 2015-16 season, but that plan changed as she recovered quickly and experienced no pain.
“I started skiing on Jan. 30th. I just did some easy drills and I had to keep my speeds really slow so I didn’t put too much force through the joint. We just wanted to see how my knee responded to being on skis and snow before putting energy into the ski. Last Wednesday my serviceman Kim Erlandsson visited me in Colorado. The practice sessions showed that I’m ready for a comeback,” Shiffrin told her ski sponsor Atomic.
Her revised plan was to race at the Jasna, Slovakia, technical series in early March, but the rescheduled slalom on Feb. 15 in Crans Montana has clearly caught her attention.
“I said that I hope to race at the end of February or early march, but you may have heard that the canceled slalom from Maribor has been rescheduled for Crans Montana on February 15 – And I’m going to be there!” Shiffrin posted on Instagram.
Shiffrin is currently 305 points behind slalom standings leader Frida Hansdotter of Sweden. With three slalom races and one city event left on the calendar, the American still has a mathematical shot at the slalom title, albeit an extremely slim one.
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