Industry News
Mikaela Shiffrin has hardly skied since her 70th World Cup victory on October 23rd due to a back injury.
In an interview with The Associated Press on Friday, Shiffrin said her back injury felt like “a very severe muscle spasm or kind of a strain” and that she hasn’t “been able to do much of any skiing at all” since the victory in Sölden, Austria.
“I just need to let it heal. It doesn’t take that long if I just take the time. But I want to be training right now. So I take a day, and then I’m like, ‘All right, maybe it’s good enough; I can go out and ski.′ And then I go out and ski and I take a few turns, and I’m like, ‘Ow. It’s really painful.’ It just takes a little bit to be able to really push on my skis with full-on intensity, which is frustrating, because right now, this is the bulk of time where I would normally be training all four events.”
– Mikaela Shiffrin
The situation is not ideal preparation for the upcoming stop at Killington, VT in late November and the speed events at Lake Louise in early December, although Shiffrin does not anticipate missing any World Cup events.
- Related: [VIDEO] Mikaela Shiffrin Takes Gold in Giant Slalom to Make History With 70th World Cup Victory
Then the focus will be on the Beijing Winter Olympics, where she intends to compete in all five disciplines; slalom, giant slalom, downhill, super-G and the combined.
“The only thing really in question for me right now would be Lake Louise, but I really want to get there. Hopefully over the next 24 hours, it’ll start to feel like I can get out on the hill and get some good training. And once we’re there, then we’re back in business, so it shouldn’t be that big of a deal.”
– Mikaela Shiffrin
