CNN Interview: Mikaela Shiffrin overcame a’mind-body disconnect’ to win the historic 100th World Cup race

Mikaela Shiffrin has been on a “quite a journey” this season.

That doesn’t do respect to the emotional and physical challenges she overcame to win her 100th World Cup, which she ultimately accomplished on Sunday in the Italian town of Sestriere.

To comprehend the American skier’s months-long suffering in the build-up to that history-making triumph, you must go back to November 30 when Shiffrin fell out of a giant slalom competition in Killington, Vermont.

The physical effect of that accident was terrible. Severe muscular trauma and a seven-centimeter-deep (approximately 2.76-inch) puncture wound to the belly, which Shiffrin claims nearly pushed into her colon.

“It’s been such a constant grind to get my muscles back to a functioning place,” she said with CNN Sport. “In terms of ski racing, the obliques, both internal and external, are among the most significant muscles we have. Aside from our legs, these are some of the most crucial components of the body. It’s been a huge, steep uphill fight simply to get back into skiing.”

Shiffrin returned to racing two months after the collision, finishing 10th in the slalom race at Courchevel, reigniting her quest for a 100th career victory.

Despite winning a gold medal with Breezy Johnson in the women’s team at the world championships, the November collision had a lasting emotional impact. The problems were exacerbated by two collisions she had around the same time, which involved banging her head and undergoing the concussion procedure.

Against this backdrop, Shiffrin revealed ahead to the team event that she would withdraw from the giant slalom at the world championships because to post-traumatic stress disorder.

“When we got over here (Europe) and I started to really get into the intensity with giant slalom, there’s this kind of mind-body disconnect,” Shiffrin adds. “I’m telling myself to execute specific technical motions, but it’s just not occurring.

“My body is warning me not to do it because it is unsafe and harmful. This whole experience has felt a little like whiplash, I believe, for me and the entire team.”

That was only a sample of the intrusive thoughts that plagued the 29-year-old during her return. Shiffrin experienced the long-term impacts of a mishap in Italy early last year, as well as her father’s unexpected death from a house accident four years prior.

“It’s been quite a trip over the previous year, for sure,” she admits, “but especially in the last few weeks. It all kind of came to the surface, and there were definitely a lot of tears on Sunday.”

Shiffrin won her 100th World Cup at Sestriere, finishing 0.61 seconds clear of the competition. This is 14 more than the next best downhill skier, Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark, and 18 more than the next woman on the all-time list, compatriot Lindsey Vonn.

With her triumph in Italy, the two-time Olympic champion equalled Stenmark’s record of 155 World Cup podium finishes. And the bad news for her adversaries is that she’s not finished yet, especially because she’s still determined to beat her demons in the giant slalom.

At this point, the focus is on uncovering her own potential after the disaster, rather than chasing any tangible accomplishments or milestones.

“Can I get back to a level in giant slalom that’s competitive with the top racers?” Shiffrin is asking. “For me, thinking about it is both daunting and frustrating, but also exhilarating.

“There’s this sense that 100 is almost like resetting to zero, restarting the sport. I feel like I’m resetting myself a little bit, and I’m trying to ride the wave and see where it takes me.”

Shiffrin’s 100th triumph has also given her the opportunity to give back to the sport that she loves so much. In collaboration with the Share Winter Foundation, she aims to earn $100,000 to support 800 days of snowsports for underprivileged youth.

She has pledged to match the first $10,000 in donations, committing to a cause that she describes as “far bigger” than winning 100 events in her skiing career.

“I’m talking about the PTSD and the mental challenges of ski racing, but being on the mountain is healing,” Shiffrin explains. “It’s mentally so healing, it’s such a beautiful thing, and there are so many people, I think, that would benefit from it.”

Shiffrin’s season has been around healing, both mentally and physically. As she moves forward in her career, with scars healed and her 100th win secured, it appears that the sky is truly the limit for one of the world’s finest skiers.

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Mikaela Shiffrin reflects on her 100th World Cup victory in an in-depth interview

Mikaela Shiffrin questioned if she’d be able to compete again this season following a massive slalom collision on November 30, let alone return to the top of a World Cup podium so soon after winning her record-extending 100th career race last Sunday.

Shiffrin discussed the victory in an in-depth interview for a Stifel Snow Show episode that aired Saturday (available on the NBC Sports YouTube channel). The extended interview is at the top of this page.

“There’s so much more meaning to this one than a number or a record,” she told me. “I wouldn’t call it a relief. It’s almost surprising given what’s transpired in the previous several months. I honestly did not expect 100 to happen this season, so I am grateful.”

Shiffrin was remarkably injury-free for the first 12 years of her World Cup participation.

However, in 2024, she suffered two major crashes, including spraining her left leg ligaments in a downhill tumble in January. She missed 11 races last winter.

Then, following the November 30 collision, she was out of competition for two months. She had a penetrating wound that tore oblique muscles and almost punctured organs.

“It has been feeling very similar, to be honest, to this kind of mental fog that I had the year after my dad passed (in 2020),” she told me. “So communicating that, talking with my psychologist, talking with teammates, letting anybody and everybody kind of give me advice, and the main thing that everyone said is the only way to move through this is to get the exposure and to keep doing it (ski racing).”

Shiffrin’s upcoming events are a World Cup giant slalom and slalom in Åre, Sweden, next weekend.

She will turn 30 on March 13 before competing in the World Cup Finals in Sun Valley, Idaho, from March 22 to 27.