UPDATE
Dec 1, 2024 10:30 AM CST
Mikaela Shiffrin's bones and internal organs "look OK," the US Ski team said Sunday, but the skier suffered a deep puncture wound on the right side of her abdomen and severe muscle trauma in her crash during a giant slalom race. The skier did not receive stitches for the wound because doctors consider it to be too deep and don't want to risk infection, the AP reports. The statement said she won't be competing in the Killington Cup slalom race Sunday, and there's no estimate of when she'll return to skiing. Shiffrin said in a statement that she asked for a sled to take her off the course after the crash Saturday because she "was in shock, entirely unable to move and worried about internal organ trauma." The ski team said Shiffrin won't be able to watch Sunday's race in person, either, adding, "She can't walk very well right now."
Nov 30, 2024 3:20 PM CST
Star skier Mikaela Shiffrin took a tumbling, sliding crash during the second run of a giant slalom on Saturday, in her first attempt at achieving her 100th World Cup victory. After a somersault, she ended up in the protective fencing along the Killington, Vermont, course, USA Today reports. Shiffrin stayed down for about 20 minutes while the ski patrol checked her, per the AP, then was taken off in a sled, waving to the cheering crowd. She was being evaluated for injuries at a medical clinic, where she was reported to be alert. "Take solace in the fact that she asked about her splits," US Ski and Snowboard posted on X.
Shiffrin had a comfortable lead after her first run. But on the second, she appeared to get off balance on the icy course and lose her edge while taking a tight line around a gate. Shiffrin was about 12 seconds from the finish line of her final run when she slid through the gate, somersaulted, lost a ski, and spun around before going into the netting, per NBC Sports. It was just the eighth time in Shiffrin's World Cup career that she hasn't finished a giant slalom race. Reigning Olympic GS champion Sara Hector of Sweden won the event, per ESPN. "It's so sad of course for Mikaela, a crash like that after she was skiing so well," Hector said. "It breaks my heart." Shiffrin is scheduled to compete Sunday in the slalom, her signature event. (More Mikaela Shiffrin stories.)