Mikaela Shiffrin announces return to World Cup ski racing following injury
Gabriele Facciotti/AP Photo
The Vail Valley’s favorite hometown hero is back on the World Cup circuit.
Mikaela Shiffrin announced her return to competitive skiing Thursday during a morning segment on The Today Show.
The Edwards skier has been inactive in 2025 due to an injury she suffered on Nov. 30, 2024 during her second giant slalom run in Killington, Vt. The 29-year-old had a 0.32 first-run lead and was on her way to her 100th World Cup win when she slipped onto her inside hip and crashed into a gate. She suffered what she described as “a seven-centimeter-deep puncture wound, or stab wound in my obliques,” she told The Today Show. The puncture required surgery in mid-December after the racer reported chills, fever and “weird symptoms,” she shared on her Instagram page at that time.
The announcement comes following what she describes as “quite a grueling process of trying to rehab and recover,” though there have been hints along the way that she would not sit out long.
One day after her surgery, Shiffrin appeared at the Birds of Prey World Cup races in Beaver Creek to present an award to Bode Miller, offering relief to fans who were concerned about her status. Nearly a month later, the skier posted a video to Instagram in early January — in what appears to be Beaver Creek — carving her first turns on snow since the incident.
“It’s been a little bit uncertain whether I could even return this season,” she said, “but I’ve been able to get on snow and I’ve been able to train a little bit in the past week or so.”
Shiffrin is now headed to Europe, where she is planning to compete in Courchevel, France on Jan. 30, two months after her injury.
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