Mikaela Shiffrin is ready to get back on the slopes.
The 29-year-old, two-time Olympic gold medalist exclusively announced on the Jan. 23 episode of TODAY that she is returning to competition after injuring herself last year during a race.
“I’m actually going to be heading over to Europe in the next couple of days to race my first World Cup,” she said.
Shiffrin’s first race will take place on Thursday, Jan. 30 at the Courchevel World Cup in France.
On Nov. 30, 2024, Shiffrin hit two gates and crashed into a fence in her second run of a giant slalom race in the Stifel Killington Cup in Killington, Vermont. The accident resulted in an abdominal injury and she underwent surgery a few weeks later.
“I got impaled back in November, and I had about a seven centimeter deep puncture wound, or stab wound, into my obliques,” she explained. “So that’s been quite a grueling process of rehab and trying to recover … I think it’s been a little bit uncertain whether I could even return this season, but I’ve been able to get on snow. I’ve been able to train a little bit the past week or so.”
Uncertain when she would be able to return to the sport, seven weeks later, the Colorado native is now ready to compete. Going into the next race, the athlete’s mindset is comeback-focused and not on what would be securing her 100th World Cup win.
Shiffrin said she made her decision after she got in the grand shalom gates on Monday to see how she felt, and she felt good.
“I think we’re going to be dealing with sort of the remnants of this injury throughout the rest of the season. But it’s not painful,” she said. “My muscles are working again. I’ve been able to get my strength built back up. So I’m in a really good place physically.”
Shiffrin said she doesn’t feel 100% back yet, but is confident this is the next step in her recovery process.
“I think the next step is racing. That’s the next step of this recovery. So the recovery is not really over, but I’m strong enough to get back in the start gate and that’s the next phase of of this progression,” she said.
Since her injury, Shiffrin has been sharing her recovery and rehab on social media.
“This next phase of recovery is all about getting my strength and conditioning back as much as possible while working within the limitations of my obliques,” she shared in an Instagram post on Jan. 1, that included video of her workouts.
A week later, Shiffrin shared video of her skiing again, and on Jan. 17, she thanked her followers for their support.
