Despite having more confidence going into the Olympic season, Shiffrin is still lagging behind due to injuries.

Austria’s Salzburg (AP) — American skiing star Mikaela Shiffrin is starting the upcoming Olympic season on a more upbeat tone after two serious crashes in the previous two seasons, one of which resulted in a PTSD struggle and a concerning decline in her ranking points.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, Shiffrin stated, “My confidence is getting better, generally I feel more comfortable.”

She may also drop super-G in a shortened World Cup program before the Milan-Cortina Olympics, but she is still not prepared to compete downhills.

After two seasons hampered by injuries, Shiffrin is happy to race in her two strongest disciplines, slalom and giant slalom, as well as maybe super-G. While super-G is not scheduled until at least mid-December, she claims that she has “no chance” of competing in downhill this season.

On October 25, a women’s giant slalom is held on an Austrian glacier to kick off the World Cup season. The following day, a men’s race is held.

Although the American claims she is not yet prepared to compete in that event, Shiffrin has practiced “a little bit of super-G” during the offseason.

“I need more super-G training days to feel comfortable to race,” she stated, adding that she plans to make her discipline debut on December 14 in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

At a press conference organised by her equipment provider Atomic, Shiffrin stated, “If it’s in a really good spot, then we can think about continuing, and if it’s not, then we can put that off to after the Olympics.”

Shiffrin has always excelled in the technical events of slalom and GS, but she won nine of her 101 career World Cup titles in speed events, five in super-G and four in downhill.

Since injuring her knee in a downhill collision on the Olympic course in Cortina d’Ampezzo in January 2024, the American has not participated in any speed-related competitions. She skied out of the event in Val d’Isere, France, in December 2023, marking her final super-G start.

Shiffrin had already made the decision to avoid the downhills for the foreseeable future before the 2024–25 season, but she still intended to participate in as many super-G events as her schedule would allow.

However, Shiffrin suffered major damage to her oblique muscles and a punctured side in a massive slalom crash during her home races in Killington, Vermont, in November.

Shiffrin came back two months later, although she only competed in her two main events—slalom and GS—for the remainder of the season. Despite this, she managed to record career victories of 100 and 101 and win gold with Breezy Johnson in the team combined event at the world championships in Austria.

After her giant slalom collision, the American battled persistent PTSD for months, but she claimed that after the season, she was at last feeling “like myself again” when competing in GS.

Shiffrin and her team focused on GS during her summer training camps, which were most recently held in Ushuaia, Argentina.

In comparison to previous years, Shiffrin stated, “I have been prioritising GS, like trying to get as much repetition in GS as possible, and I have done quite a lot more volume in GS.”

The American admitted to feeling anxious before the new season, even though she had made her debut in elite ski racing 14 years prior, established the record for the most race victories, won five overall titles, eight slalom season crowns, and two Olympic gold medals.

The American remarked, “I still get jitters, and I think I get more anxious every season because I know how hard it is to be really successful – and how much I want to be successful.” “I am currently motivated by the idea that I have better skiing to explore.”