Shiffrin enters the Olympic season with increased confidence, but is still skipping downhill after injuries

After two devastating crashes in the previous two seasons and a battle with PTSD, American skiing standout Mikaela Shiffrin is beginning the upcoming Olympic season on a more upbeat note.

SALZBURG, Austria (AP) After two devastating accidents in the last two seasons, one of which resulted in PTSD and a significant reduction in her rankings points, American skiing great Mikaela Shiffrin is starting the upcoming Olympic season on a more upbeat note.

“My confidence is improving, and I feel more at ease,” Shiffrin told The Associated Press in an interview on Thursday.

She is still not ready to race downhill again, and she may abandon super-G as part of a curtailed World Cup schedule ahead of the Milan-Cortina Olympics.

Shiffrin is pleased to compete in her two greatest disciplines, slalom and giant slalom, and possibly super-G, while she rebuilds her confidence after two injury-plagued seasons. She claims there is “no chance” she will compete in downhill this season, and super-G is not on the calendar until at least mid-December.

The World Cup season begins with a women’s giant slalom on an Austrian glacier on October 25, followed by a men’s event the next day.

Shiffrin has practiced “a little bit of super-G” during the offseason, but the American admits she is not yet ready to compete in the event.

“I need more super-G training days to feel comfortable racing,” she stated, adding that she plans to compete in the discipline once — in St. Moritz, Switzerland, on December 14.

“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 until after the Olympics,” Shiffrin said during a media event held by her equipment supplier Atomic.

Shiffrin has traditionally excelled in technical events such as slalom and GS, but she has won nine of her record 101 World Cup races in speed events, five in super-G and four in downhill.

In January 2024, the American injured her knee in a downhill fall on the Olympic course in Cortina d’Ampezzo. She has not competed in speed disciplines since then. Her last super-G start was in December 2023, when she skied out and did not finish the race at Val d’Isere, France.

Shiffrin had previously opted to avoid downhills for the foreseeable future, but still wanted to race in as many super-G events as her schedule allowed.

Shiffrin suffered extensive injury to her oblique muscles during a giant slalom collision at her home races in Killington, Vermont, in November.

Shiffrin returned two months later and focused on her core disciplines of slalom and GS, recording lifetime wins of 100 and 101. She also won gold with Breezy Johnson in the team combined event at the world championships in Austria.

After her giant slalom crash, the American experienced post-traumatic stress disorder for months. However, after the season, she reported feeling “like myself again” while racing GS.

Shiffrin and her team prioritised GS throughout her summer training camps, which were most recently held in Ushuaia, Argentina.

“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 than in past years,” says Shiffrin.

Even 14 years after making her top-level ski racing debut and setting the record for most race wins, winning five overall titles, eight slalom season crowns, and two Olympic gold medals, the American admitted to being worried about the upcoming season.

“I still feel jitters, I probably feel more nervous with each season because I know how hard it is to be really successful – and how much I want to be successful,” the U.S. player stated. “I feel like I have better skiing to explore, so that is where my motivation is right now.”