BEAVER CREEK, Colorado — Mikaela Shiffrin is currently in recovery following a surgical procedure to address a puncture wound sustained in a giant slalom accident two weeks ago. The surgery took place on Thursday night, aimed at cleaning the injury.
On Saturday, Shiffrin shared her update via Instagram as her fellow athletes competed in the women’s downhill race at Beaver Creek’s Birds of Prey course. She expressed her disappointment over not being able to attend and support her teammates in person, stating, “The biggest bummer right now is that I can’t get up to the finish to watch my teammates race at the World Cup in person. But I’m watching and cheering on TV!”
There is currently no set timeline for when Shiffrin will return to competitive racing. She suffered not only bruises but also the deep puncture to her hip region during a crash in Killington, Vermont, on November 30. Notably, there was no ligament or bone damage reported. At the time of her accident, she was leading the giant slalom and was in pursuit of her milestone 100th World Cup victory.
In the closing moments of her second run, she lost her edge while leaning into the hill, causing her to slide into a gate and flip over her skis. She collided with another gate before finally stopping against the protective fencing. Immediately following this dramatic fall, she was transported down the mountain on a sled.
Shiffrin has been recuperating at her home located in nearby Edwards, Colorado, taking the time needed to heal. In her Instagram post, the 29-year-old noted that the need for surgery was not anticipated and followed a period during which she felt unwell. To aid in her healing, she has been using a wound vacuum to maintain cleanliness in the area of the puncture.
Shiffrin mentioned, “Turns out I had a little cavity deeper than the wound tract that was filled with old hematoma and wasn’t properly draining with the wound vac or normal packing. So we went in to wash it out and close it with sutures.”
Throughout her illustrious career, Shiffrin has garnered five overall World Cup titles, two Olympic gold medals alongside a silver, and seven world championship titles. She achieved a remarkable milestone on January 24, 2023, surpassing Lindsey Vonn’s previous record of 82 World Cup wins during a giant slalom event in Italy. Subsequently, she broke the all-time record for most World Cup victories held by Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark when she clinched her 87th win that March.
