Katie Hensien, Nina O’Brien, Ava Sunshine and Dasha Romanov photo U.S. Ski & Snowboard – Mike Dawson

If there was a soundtrack to this year’s World Cup, it might be Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust.” As the rash of injuries among ski racing’s high-profile athletes escalates, every major ski team is feeling the pain. With Shiffrin’s injury in Cortina, the American team fielded just two starters in Kronplatz. Much of the women’s American tech squad, however, was injured before the season even got started and are already well along the comeback trail. Here’s an update on how they are doing.

KATIE HENSIEN

Last season was barely in the books when Katie Hensien tore her ACL in a crash during spring training in Utah. Hensien was coming off a breakout season where she scored WC points in both SL and GS. After reconstructive surgery with Dr. Thomas Hackett at the Steadman Clinic in Vail, Hensien settled in Denver. The 2022 NCAA SL champ graduated from DU last spring with a degree in applied computer science and business. “I have a lot of friends out here from college and it’s kind of like my second home.”

Being in Denver also allowed her to get into gravel biking for rehab, something she can do year-round there. She’s close to the Steadman Clinic and the COE in Park City, where she was able to regularly check in with PTs and conditioning coaches. The timing of her injury, while devastating, was advantageous in a way. “There’s never a perfect time to get injured and miss a year, but this year there were no World Champs, no Olympics, so I wasn’t missing any major big races,” Hensien reasons. She’ll also have a solid 18 months from her injury to her World Cup return. “Seeing my timeline—it’s perfect.” Hensien expects to get back on snow in Utah this month under the guidance of Dane Spencer, who contracts with the US Ski Team for return-to-sport protocol.

NINA O’BRIEN

The next to fall was Nina O’Brien. Last season had marked her miraculous return from the horrific open tib/fib fracture she suffered in GS at the Beijing Olympics. O’Brien was back to racing and scoring on the World Cup ten months later and skied to gold in Team Parallel at the 2023 World Championships. In early September, at the end of a productive training camp in New Zealand, she straddled an SL gate. Unlike her crash in Beijing, “it was not some glorious, gnarly crash,” says O’Brien. Nonetheless, she immediately knew she’d re-broken her leg.

This time, however, absent the trauma, the broken fibula and the ankle involvement, her injury was much less complicated. “I feel so much better pain wise and progression wise,” says O’Brien, comparing it to her last injury. “It’s been a really pleasant surprise at almost every turn along the way.”

After surgery with Dr Hackett at the Steadman Clinic, O’Brien quickly pivoted, enrolling at Dartmouth and arriving on campus on crutches to complete her final college term. O’Brien has been working steadily towards her Econ degree during the off-season for eight years, and will officially walk for her diploma in June.

With no school or skiing, she has enjoyed the rare opportunity to spend time in Denver with family and her boyfriend, Drew Duffy. Around New Year’s—four months post-op—O’Brien passed her medical and conditioning tests and got the green light to ski. Since then, she has been working meticulously on skis with Dane Spencer and Josh Applegate, and she has also enjoyed freeskiing at Deer Valley and Jackson Hole. She’s looking forward to traveling to Europe during the World Cup break to work with coach Zan Spilar and also to her first heli-skiing trip in early March.

AVA SUNSHINE

Days after learning of O’Brien’s injury, the news came that her teammate Ava Sunshine would be out for the season. The fast-rising Sunshine, who scored points on her World Cup debut, had been enjoying a very successful camp in New Zealand, which included a GS win over World Cuppers AJ Hurt and Alice Robinson. She admits she was “pushing the volume a little too much” on the last day of the trip and straddled a GS gate. It grabbed her ankle and twisted her knee, tearing her ACL.

After surgery in Ogden with Dr. Jeffrey Harrison, Sunshine moved from her home in Southern California to Salt Lake City. There, she lives with students on the Westminster Ski Team and continues her studies at the University of Utah, where she is working towards a Communications major with an Econ minor. US Ski Team athletes enjoy in-state tuition and a variety of grants and scholarships to defray educational costs at the U of U. “That’s made it almost free, which is awesome,” says Sunshine.

In addition to watching the World Cups on TV, she has also enjoyed soaking up the competitive atmosphere in person while watching her friends and housemates in the UNI races. “It just makes you realize how much you really like it and what you are missing,” says Sunshine. “That’s what it’s all about. There’s no feeling like it. It just reiterated to me how cool skiing can be.”Sunshine expects to be back on snow in late March and rejoin the team training schedule.

DASHA ROMANOV

After earning her first World Cup starts by surprise in Levi last November, Dasha Romanov came into the Killington World Cups feeling very well-prepared. Her back started tightening up the night before the slalom, and she didn’t think much of it. Then, on race day, something went catastrophically wrong in the training course at the top of the race hill. She barely made it down the course for inspection and needed help getting out of her skis and off the snow. Unable to race, she traveled to Dr Sonny Gill at the Steadman Clinic in Vail, where he diagnosed torn ligaments and bulging disks in her lower back. Recovery did not involve surgery, but it would be slow and require extraordinary patience.

In January, she moved from her home in Boulder, CO, to Salt Lake City, where she is under the care of Dr. Brandon Lawrence and rehabbing at the COE. So far, her recovery has involved lots of walking on the treadmill while listening to Euro techno beats to pick up the pace. She’s living in the home of her teammates, Mary and Elisabeth Bocock, who are competing in the World Junior Championships. Romanov was named to the World Junior Champs team but is still unable to ski.

Unlike the relatively predictable and straightforward recovery process with ligaments and bones, the timeline for back injuries is vague. It is based more on symptoms than on any physical testing benchmarks. “This is the hardest injury I’ve had to recover from, although probably not the most severe,” says Romanov. “I’m trying to be really honest with myself because I want longevity. I want to come back stronger.” While working to reduce inflammation and allow the ligaments to heal, her biggest challenge is to be patient. She hopes to be on snow later this season, as symptoms allow.

DOING THE WORK AT THE COE

The athletes heap praise on the COE and are grateful for its vast resources—including the gym, sport-specific technology, PTs, trainers and sports psychologists—available to them at the facility at every stage of recovery. Getting back on snow, the final and most exciting phase is a critical piece to get right. “The ‘Return to Competition Process’ is quite methodical and has been put together by experts on our staff also working with outside experts,” explains USSS Chief of Sport Anouk Patty. “It’s milestone -driven, not time-based, which works better, especially for athletes. They are tested periodically throughout before moving to the next phase.”

Regular check-ins provide a steady flow of athletes and a supportive community. Romanov notes the silver lining of having so many injured teammates together. In addition to working with the COE team of therapists and trainers up to six days per week and being in the gym every day, the athletes have enjoyed “girls’ nights” and team dinners with men’s team athletes Erik Arvidsson, Finnigan Donley, and most recently Sam DuPratt. “It’s kind of like the rehab crew, so that’s really nice.”

The “least favorite rehab exercise” winner goes to BFR (Blood Flow Restriction) therapy, which uses air pressure to limit oxygen supply to the muscle during exercise. It causes the body to switch from aerobic to anaerobic metabolism, stimulating muscle growth. But it does not feel good. “I don’t know who could possibly enjoy that,” says O’Brien.

STAYING UP IN DOWN TIME

Despite missing the sport, their teammates and the competition, the athletes have enjoyed spending time with family, being home for the holidays, going to the beach in winter and other activities. O’Brien is experiencing something she has never known in her career: downtime. She’s used it to pay more attention to the details, like stretching, recovery and doing a really good warm-up. “Sometimes, when your plate is full, you tend to rush through these things, so it’s kind of a luxury to have that time.”

Sunshine has enjoyed the experience of living life as a regular college student. “I’ve never not skied a season before. It’s weird, but it’s good.” It’s also made her appreciate her opportunity even more. “I’ve realized I’m right where I belong—ski racing.” Romanov has used the time to focus on her mental strength and toughness. “I think any athlete can say that’s an area they don’t work on enough,” says Romanov. 

SIDELINE PERSPECTIVE

While the athletes agree it can be hard to watch the competitions from the sidelines, they are universally inspired by their teammates’ success, including AJ Hurt’s breakout success. Hurt is a close friend of all and Romanov’s mentor. “I’ve watched every World Cup SL live. It ruins my sleep schedule,” says Romanov, adding that the trade-off of seeing the results as they happen is worth it. “They’re just on fire right now,” says Hensien of the entire women’s team. “I’m so excited to return to that team.” Sunshine stays in close touch with her teammates in Europe, checking in every couple of days: “I miss them so much. We’re a family.”

O’Brien was inspired to see Jacqui Wiles score her career-best 2nd place in Cortina. A year ago, Wiles was exactly where O’Brien is now, doing her back-to-sport work with Spencer. “I’m happy for her regardless,” says O’Brien, “and it’s encouraging for me too.”

Romanov is in her last year as a junior and admits to feeling sad as the World Junior Champs approached. “I want all my teammates to do really well. I’m so, so happy for them. I just wish I was there with them.”