CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, ITALY – JANUARY 25: Mikaela Shiffrin of the US team undergoing testing. … [+]
American ski star Mikaela Shiffrin, 28, was airlifted to hospital after suffering the scariest crash of her career during a World Cup downhill race in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, on Friday.
Shiffrin lost control while landing a jump and found herself sliding into a patch of soft snow and crashing into the safety net at considerable speed.
This alarming incident was quickly attended to, and Ms. Shiffrin remained lying there for about 10 minutes until medical personnel could attend to her.
In the aftermath, Shiffrin was airlifted to a local hospital where her left leg was examined for possible injuries.
Presented by the U.S. Ski Team update X (formerly Twitter) shared initial analysis that the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) in her knee appeared to be intact.
Shiffrin later shared a photo from her hospital bed and thanked the outpouring of support.
“At the moment, I’m just taking it day by day, but as soon as I have more information and updates, I’ll share them. I’m so thankful it’s not worse, but it hurts pretty bad right now.” she said in the post, along with a photo of her left leg strapped to a bag of ice.
“I won’t be skiing this weekend and I won’t be skiing Kromplatz (next week) either,” Shiffrin added. “Anything more than that is very difficult to say at this time. I need some time to work with my team and see how everything feels in the next few days!”
YANQING, CHINA – FEBRUARY 20: Mikaela Shiffrin skis for Team USA on the mixed team. … [+]
Shiffrin, a seven-time world champion, had several high-profile crashes at the Beijing Olympics two years ago, failing to finish three of her five individual races.
U.S. team coach Paul Kristofik told The Associated Press that Shiffrin “doesn’t fall often, but it can happen.”
“It shows how athletes push on the edge and how the course pushes them. And you have to do that if you want to be competitive,” he added. Ta.
Friday’s accident came just days after Shiffrin won the slalom in Jasna, Slovakia, extending her World Cup win record to 95 and earning her memorable 150th career podium.
The course where Shiffrin crashed is the same course that will be used for the women’s downhill at the 2026 Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy.