Shiffrin returns upbeat after’miraculous’ fifth place in slalom

Mikaela Shiffrin may have lost out on a medal that would have made her the most decorated alpine skier ever, but the US star remained upbeat after finishing fifth in the slalom on Saturday, which she described as “miraculous”.

Shiffrin was third quickest in the first leg, keeping her on track to surpass Christl Cranz, who competed for Germany in the 1930s, with both tied for 15 world championship medals.

She finished sixth behind US colleague Paula Moltzan in a race won by Switzerland’s Camille Rast. Wendy Holdener of Switzerland took silver and Austrian Katharina Liensberger took bronze.

“Actually, I didn’t realise I was so close to the podium,” she said.

“Today was just right in line with my expectations and I thought ‘Oh, thank you’.”

Shiffrin arrived in Saalbach after recovering from a serious injury sustained at last month’s Courchevel slalom.

After two months on the sidelines due to an abdominal puncture wound that necessitated surgery, she had just a slim chance of winning the medal.

She did, however, win a surprising gold medal in the team combined last Tuesday, partnering newly crowned downhill champion Breezy Johnson after saying she would not defend her giant slalom title due to her dread of participating in that discipline following her incident.

Shiffrin claimed her slalom skiing at the Austrian resort on Saturday was “twice as good” as it had been at Courchevel.

“It is really, really awesome progress,” she told me.

“It’s an odd position to be: recovering from an injury, from surgery eight weeks ago, from sitting in bed with drainage for up to six weeks, and returning midway in the thick of a world championship where everyone is talking about medals.

“All the other athletes are fighting and on their top form and I’m trying to figure out where I even stand in the sport.”

– A learning experience.

Shiffrin, who has won 99 World Cups, described her comeback as “one of the biggest learning experiences” of her illustrious career.

“I think it will continue through the end of the season but, for now, this was a huge step forward and somehow actually we’re walking away from world championships with another gold medal, together with Breezy.”

Shiffrin stated that missing out on surpassing Cranz as the top overall world medal winner was not on her mind.

“Sometimes you’re on the good side of the hundredths and sometimes you’re on the wrong side of the hundredths and that’s the sport,” according to her.

“But the women who skied the best today got the medals, which is how it should be.

“It was amazing to watch. It feels almost incredible that we were ever a part of it, much alone that we’re here racing.

“It remains a step-by-step procedure. I’m happy of what we’ve done well, and I’m learning from where I can improve.”

Shiffrin said that, while she was not regularly achieving her “vibe of top, top slalom skiing,” the next step needed time and training.

“It’s trying to figure out how to connect the sort of consistency and sections together,” she told me.

“Also, the course was quite long. So, being basically bedridden for three weeks did not assist my fitness, so when I was coming down the last pitch today, I was thinking, ‘Oh no!’.

“We’ve done a fantastic job. I’m powerful, and I believe my anaerobic endurance will improve over time.

“It will be a continued recovery through the rest of the season.”

Racing GS is in the cards, according to Shiffrin, and might take place next weekend in the Italian resort of Sestriere, where she will compete for her 100th World Cup victory with giant slaloms on Friday and Saturday and a slalom on Sunday.

“I think I can get there to the point that my GS skiing is good enough that I can race without it being dangerous,” she told me.

“We got a couple more days of training and then we’ll get there and we’ll see how it goes.”