Mikaela Shiffrin’s career has been full of setbacks, but the alpine skier has never shied away from them. That’s why the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics are a redemption stage for Shiffrin. She has already won three Olympic medals, with two of them being gold. Now, if she goes on doing what she does best this time, a lot of things can fall into place.
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And the best part? Mikaela Shiffrin can then cement her status as the most decorated American Olympic alpine skier by winning just one more gold medal. The road hasn’t been easy for Shiffrin. Especially after the 2022 Beijing Olympics, things have only gone downhill for her, majorly health-wise. Let’s take a look into her injury-trodden path so far and how she got back on track:
Which Major Injuries Has Mikaela Shiffrin Suffered Over the Years?
- Abdominal Puncture Wound (November 30, 2024): This was the most brutal one of all. During a World Cup giant slalom in Killington, Vermont, Shiffrin crashed and was “stabbed” by her own ski piece. The seven-centimetre-deep (2.76-inch) wound sliced her abdominal wall and missed her colon by just one millimetre. She suffered a major muscle trauma to her obliques and had to get surgery in December 2024 to address the problems. It was a 6-day-long process.
- Left Knee and Ankle Injury (January 2024): Last year, Shiffrin crashed during a downhill race in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. She suffered a series of issues, including a sprained MCL, a tibiofibular ligament sprain, a high-ankle sprain, and a major bone bruise. This injury kept her from picking up her ski for six weeks and ended her chances for the 2024 World Cup overall title.
- Severe Back Pain (Late 2021): Then, before the 2022 Beijing Olympics, Shiffrin faced a chain of chronic back pain and strains that affected her training for a long time. It was then revealed that these chronic issues originated from a fall she took as a child.
- Right Knee Injury (December 12, 2015): While preparing for a race in Åre, Sweden, Shiffrin suffered a torn MCL and significant bone bruising in her right knee. She missed two months of the season but won her comeback race in February 2016.
What Happened in the 2024 Killington Crash and Why Was It So Serious?
The events of November 30th, 2024, is kind of nightmare for many athletes. But for Mikaela Shiffrin, it became a reality.. During the second run of the giant slalom, Shiffrin was leading and very much at the forefront of winning that race. However, near the bottom of the course, her inside ski caught an edge, which forced her to lose control during a high-speed run.
She toppled from her ski, was thrown into a race gate, and eventually tumbled into the protective safety netting. But because the edge of her ski was sharp, it sliced through her abdomen. She was in major shock and couldn’t even move on the hill. She suffered a seven-centimetre-deep (2.76-inch) puncture wound on the right side of her abdomen. The good thing is that she missed her colon and abdominal wall by only one millimetre.
If the blade reached that part, it would have caused a deep internal damage. Even then it was pretty serious. The puncture penetrated three layers of muscle in her obliques. And the muscles that got damaged are very much crucial for the extreme twisting and bending of high-level skiing.
Did Mikaela Shiffrin Have Surgery, and How Did Recovery Affect Her?
After an accident like that, urgent medical care is very much necessary. Even though Shiffrin expected to heal naturally, the deep puncture wound developed a hidden cavity that prevented proper drainage, leading to fever and chills. That’s why she had to undergo surgery. Doctors took her to Vail Health to clean out the cavity filled with an old hematoma that was not draining properly.
The recovery was a 60-day gruelling period. Her physical therapist had to consult with pro baseball and hockey trainers to adapt rehab protocols for severe oblique trauma, as such injuries are rare in skiing. After the injury, her abdomen remained swollen, and because of that, she couldn’t eat properly and take in proteins, which are very important for her health.
She couldn’t even do small physical activities such as laughing, coughing, or performing a side plank without pain.
How Did Mental Health Challenges Shape Her Comeback?
The surgery and the aftermath of it were just a part of the issues. Other than that, the Killington crash took a massive mental toll on her. After that incident, Shiffrin’s confidence was completely shaken. She started having pre-race jitters. Like, while racing, when she specifically needed to make a high-speed turn, the memory of the accident made her freeze.
After a certain period of time, Shiffrin started seeing a sports psychologist, and as it turned out, she was suffering from a form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). During moments of fight or flight, her brain would send a signal to her muscles to “brace” or “back off” by a fraction of a second. But Mikaela Shiffrin didn’t go into depression with all this; she fought back.
How Has Mikaela Shiffrin Bounced Back and What Comes Next?
The therapy sessions were tremendous. Shiffrin admitted there were moments during her recovery when she doubted if she would ever race again, or if she even wanted to return to the sport. However, after working closely with her psychologist, she identified that the problem was more of a chemical reaction from her brain, rather than her own failure.
That’s when she started to ‘re-map’ her brain. Shiffrin overtook the exposure therapy, which is like a process of ‘slowly ripping the band-aid.’ She took repeated training runs to prove to her nervous system that high-speed skiing would not typically result in such freak injuries. Then her physical therapist, Regan Dewhirst, focused on strengthening her deep core muscles.
And it was specifically targeted to the transversus abdominis to restore the “corset-like” stability needed for elite turning. Shiffrin shifted her inspiration from winning medals to rediscovering “the perfect day on the mountain”. She focused on the joy of a flawless training run rather than the stress of a race.