American ski star Mikaela Shiffrin, who leads the overall standings of the Women’s World Cup, survived a severe and serious accident in the opening downhill race on Friday in the Italian resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Shiffrin, 28 years old, lost her balance while jumping before one of the most difficult turns on the Olympic track, and slid at full speed towards the side net.
Shiffrin remained lying on the ground until the medical team arrived, after which she stood on her feet but without moving her left leg.
The race was stopped for about 20 minutes, as Shiffrin was removed from the track by helicopter.
Shiffrin expressed her relief that she was not injured, and wrote on her “X” account (formerly Twitter): “I want to thank you for your support and your best wishes for recovery. At the present time, we will see what happens day after day.”
“I’m really relieved that it’s not that serious, even though I feel pain everywhere,” she added.
She explained that she would not start the other two races in the Cortina stage program on Saturday and Sunday, and the giant slalom race in Kronplatz (Italy) on Tuesday.
She concluded her speech by saying: “In addition to this date, it is still difficult to determine (in which races I will participate). I need some time with my team to absorb what happened.”
Shiffrin, a five-time world champion and record holder with 95 victories, was competing in her second downhill race of the season.
She has previously won seven rounds of the World Championship this season, including the final downhill race in St. Moritz last December.
Shiffrin’s friend, Norwegian Alexander Amot Klde, will miss the remainder of the season after suffering another severe accident in Wengen earlier this month.
The men’s competition also witnessed two severe injuries to Austrian Marco Schwarz and Frenchman Alexei Pintauro, which will keep them out of the remainder of the season.
2024-01-26 23:28:00
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