The undisputed queen of the slopes and 99-time World Cup winner is back! In case you are lost, we are referring to Mikaela Shiffrin!  Just in November 2024, she lay injured after a brutal crash in Killington, Vermont during a giant slalom race. A deep puncture wound in her abdomen and severe trauma to her oblique muscles made her future in the icy realm uncertain. Surgery followed. Then weeks of recovery, with a drainage tube attached to her side and uncertainty clouding her return. Yet, Mikaela being Mikaela made a stunning comeback to clinch gold in the team combined event at the Alpine Skiing World Championships in Austria along with her childhood friend, Breezy Johnson.

Mikaela’s comeback was as much a battle of the mind as it was of the body. Following her success on the slopes and gathering all the praise and love, Shiffrin took to her Instagram account and acknowledged the daunting nature of her return, “It seems impossible to have made it this far, this quickly. But here we are…returning to competition essentially during World Championships after 10 weeks of injury. 9 weeks post-surgery, 8 weeks after being laid up in bed with a JP Drain sticking out of my side with a mostly useless oblique.” Let’s be honest, we did see the 29-year-old making such a comeback! What is she not capable of?

Despite her tempered expectations, the weight of history loomed large. A record-breaking 16th World Championship medal was within reach. And the world expected another podium finish from the champion. But for Shiffrin, just being in the starting gate was already a victory. She understood that external expectations rarely account for the personal battles behind the scenes. “Something I’ve learned about how expectations work in a situation like this is that no matter the story of how we got here, there is still always the anticipation of victory,” she reflected. But when winning is a habit, there’s no stopping. 

Her fight back culminated in a stunning performance in the team combined event, where Breeny Johnson and Shiffrin surged from fourth to first, delivering an unforgettable gold-medal finish. While it wasn’t the historic individual triumph many had anticipated, it was a championship-winning moment that marked her resilience in the competitive sphere.

Even with her remarkable return, the path ahead remains uncertain. On her Instagram, Shiffrin admitted to dealing with mental health issues that followed her crash, as she withdrew from the giant slalom event due to lingering fear, “Right now, I feel quite far away. I’m currently working through some mental obstacles in order to return to the GS start with the intensity required for racing.” Yet, her ability to push forward despite these struggles speaks volumes about her champion mentality.

Her fifth-place finish in the slalom—where she had never placed outside the top three at a world championship—may have ended an incredible streak, but it did not define her journey. In fact, it underscored her perseverance. Amid everything, although Shiffrin is back on the slopes, is she mentally in the same zone as well?

Mikaela Shiffrin battles haunting visions as crash trauma still shadows her comeback quest

Mikaela Shiffrin may be back on the slopes, but the ghosts of her crash refuse to let go. Even now, as she pushes through the Alpine World Ski Championships, the visions haunt her. Shiffrin shared, “Sometimes I’ll get a random vision of crashing,” she admitted. “It might not be the Killington crash; it could be the course in front of me, that I have this random vision that I’m in the nets again and something else is stabbing through me.” The physical scars may be healing, but mentally, she’s still battling the trauma that nearly ended it all.

That fear—sudden, unpredictable, and overwhelming—has forced Shiffrin to step back from the giant slalom. The discipline she once dominated makes her feel fear from within. Two days after winning gold in the team combined event, she made a decision that stunned fans—she wouldn’t defend her GS title. “As an individual athlete, you never feel you are doing enough,” she reflected. Her words revealed that she’s been grappling with a form of PTSD since the crash. The speed, the control, the confidence—everything she once took for granted now feels just out of reach.

But this isn’t about giving up. It’s about understanding that some battles can’t be won by sheer force of will. The 29-year-old knows she needs time, and she’s willing to take it. The records, the medals, and the 100th World Cup win can all wait. When it comes to skiing past her opponents on the slopes, she is a pro. But dealing with inner demons is uncharted territory. The Olympic champion is wise to want to overcome mental health hurdles before taking on the slopes. 

This was not just another medal chase, it was a fight to prove to herself that she still belonged among the best, despite the setbacks. With another milestone reached and the fire still burning, Shiffrin now looks ahead, knowing that every race from here is another step toward reclaiming her dominance. As she continues to embrace the unknown, one thing is certain—her comeback story is far from over.