Mikaela Shiffrin says she is dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder following a crash in November and will not defend her gold medal in giant slalom at the Alpine skiing world championships.
The American holder of a record 99 World Cup wins suffered a deep puncture wound when she fell in a giant slalom race on Nov. 30 in Killington, Vermont, causing severe trauma to her oblique muscles.
“I’m mentally blocked in being able to get to the next level of pace and speed and putting power into the turns,” Shiffrin said in an audio message shared with The Associated Press on Monday. “And that kind of mental, psychological like PTSD-esque struggle is more than I anticipated.
“I figured once we touched ground in Europe and we got a chance to get some repetitive training days, I would be able to improve step by step and sort of the passion and the longing for racing was going to outweigh any fear that I had,” she added.
Whatever stabbed Shiffrin in her fall at Killington nearly punctured her abdominal wall and her colon. She told The Associated Press last month that her injury was “a millimeter from pretty catastrophic.”
Shiffrin also had a high-speed crash in downhill in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, last season that kept her out for six weeks. She has discussed her fears with a psychologist, said Megan Harrod, Shiffrin’s spokeswoman.
On Instagram, Shiffrin wrote: “Honestly, I really didn’t anticipate experiencing so much of this kind of mental/PTSD struggle in GS from my injury.”
The women’s giant slalom is scheduled for Thursday and Shiffrin said it was “soul crushing” not to be able to defend her title.
“Two years ago I was at my top level I’ve ever skied in GS. It was the most fun I ever had skiing GS,” Shiffrin said. “To be here now and not even be able to start, that’s pretty heartbreaking.”
Shiffrin returned to action last month when she placed 10th in a slalom in Courchevel, France, and is still planning to race the slalom — her best event — at worlds on Saturday.
The speeds in slalom are lower than those in giant slalom, so the danger level is not as high.
By now abandoning the giant slalom, Shiffrin has decided to enter the new team combined event at worlds on Tuesday and will pair with freshly crowned downhill gold medalist Breezy Johnson.
The combined event entails one racer competing in a downhill run and another in a slalom run, with their two times added up to determine the final results.
“I’m not at full capacity, not in giant slalom and not in slalom either,” Shiffrin said. “But I feel good enough in slalom.”
The other U.S. teams for the event are super-G bronze medalist Lauren Macuga and Paula Moltzan; Lindsey Vonn and AJ Hurt; and Jacqueline Wiles and Katie Hensien.
Shiffrin hopes to return to giant slalom the weekend after worlds on the World Cup circuit in Sestriere, Italy, where two GS races and a slalom are scheduled.
Shiffrin needs one more win to reach a record-extending 100 World Cup victories.
She said that by putting off her GS return off for now it “buys us just a little bit more time to get things a little bit more sorted.”
