SOELDEN, Austria — American Mikaela Shiffrin will not compete in the downhill when the Alpine Ski World Cup season begins later this month, her representative confirmed to Reuters.
Shiffrin, owner of a record 97 World Cup wins, missed several weeks after injuring her knee in a high-speed crash in January while competing in the World Cup downhill in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Her representative, Megan Harrod, cited the demanding downhill training schedule as a deciding factor, with the twice Olympic gold medallist focusing on the slalom, giant slalom and super-G instead.
“The amount of time downhill training takes is just too much to do the discipline justice,” Harrod said according to Reuters.
Shiffrin etched her name in the history books when she collected a record 87th career World Cup win in March 2023, surpassing retired Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark’s mark that had stood since 1989.
She told the Associated Press that she briefly contemplated retiring from the sport after the January crash and would consider bringing back the downhill discipline into her schedule in the future.
“No downhill races, not this season,” the US ski star announced at a media event organized by her equipment supplier Atomic in Bergheim, Austria.
Shiffrin landed hard in the safety nets during a fall in the downhill in Cortina d’Ampezzo in the previous season. After a six-week injury break, she lost out to Lara Gut-Behrami in the battle for the overall World Cup.
Shiffrin extended her record career haul to 97 World Cup wins with a pair of victories to close out last season in March.
The Alpine Ski World Cup season begins on Oct. 26 in Soelden, Austria.
In the coming season, Shiffrin could become the first female ski racer to break the 100 World Cup wins mark.
The 29-year-old American currently has 97 victories – eleven ahead of the previous record holder Ingemar Stenmark.
Shiffrin emphasized that her focus is fully on the slaloms, giant slaloms and super-Gs, of which she wants to compete in all nine this winter.
The convalescing Olympic champion Sofia Goggia wants to return to the World Cup at the speed season opener shortly before Christmas.
“If all goes well, I would like to compete again in Beaver Creek in mid-December,” said the 31-year-old on Friday at the media day of the Italian Winter Sports Federation FISI in Milan.
Goggia has won the Downhill World Cup four times to date and was crowned Olympic champion in her strongest discipline in Pyeongchang in 2018.
However, she was repeatedly thwarted by injuries during her career. In February 2024, Goggia broke her right tibia and tibial malleolus during training and had to end last season prematurely.
Shiffrin capped her season that was marred by a six-week injury layoff with her record-extending 60th win in slalom and 97th overall at the World Cup finals last March at Saalbach-Hinterglemm in Austria.
The American star trailed Anna Swenn Larsson of Sweden after the first run but ultimately won the season-ending slalom by 0.54 seconds from Mina Fuerst Holtmann of Norway, while Swenn Larsson dropped to third, 0.63 off the pace.
Shiffrin had already locked up her record-equaling eighth slalom season title last week in her first race back since hurting her knee in a downhill crash at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy in January.
The two-time Olympic champion sprained the MCL and tibiofibular ligament in her knee, while also still recovering from a bone bruise she had sustained at the start of the season.
“Oh wow, it’s been a wild season,” Shiffrin said in a course-side TV interview. “I’m happy for the final race of the season to go so well. I’m looking forward to next season already.”
Asked about her numbers of wins, Shiffrin took a breath before answering.
“Just a little bit hard to process it all. It’s like these days just make me feel so invigorated, like so alive, and that’s what I’m focusing on. I’m trying to soak that all in,” she said.
“I never really focused too much on the numbers, but now I feel OK with them, like it’s not pressure, it’s not anything, it’s just an honor.”
