Mikaela Shiffrin will miss the start of the Alpine skiing World Cup season for the first time since 2011, sitting out next week’s giant slalom in Soelden, Austria, with a back injury.
“After tweaking my back skiing last week, I have been advised to sit Soelden out to let my back heal so I can race the rest of the season,” was posted on Shiffrin’s social media Friday. “Having started in Soelden for the last eight years straight, this feels...really frustrating and strange (for lack of better words). Luckily, this injury will heal and I will be back in the start soon.”
Shiffrin plans to fly back to the U.S. from Europe for rest and recovery with a to-be-announced return to competition, according to U.S. Ski & Snowboard. The next scheduled World Cup event is a parallel giant slalom Nov. 13 in Austria.
Shiffrin, a two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-time World Cup overall champion, last raced Jan. 26.
She missed the rest of the abbreviated 2019-20 season after her father’s death on Feb. 2. She traveled for a potential return for the final races of last season in Sweden in March, but they ended up getting canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Shiffrin made the podium in Soelden five of the last six years, including sharing a victory in 2014.
New Zealand’s Alice Robinson, then 17, edged Shiffrin for the victory in Soelden last year. Another top contender for the Oct. 17 race is Italian Federica Brignone, who passed Shiffrin in the overall standings during her absence last winter and ended up with the title.
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