Mikaela Shiffrin was on the verge of winning her 100th world cup six weeks back. Competing in Killington, Vermont, November 30, it soon became a day to forget for the alpine skiing queen. Taking the lead initially, Shiffrin could hear the crowd rallying behind her. And then it was blank! Shiffrin had a false step that sent her crashing into the safety netting. For a moment, the crowd went silent. Shiffrin was not moving as she went into a shock. 

Rushing her to the hospital, the winner of 99 world cups revealed that she suffered a puncture wound. And it impacted the skier significantly. Losing a lot of core strength, Shiffrin had difficulty in carrying out the simplest tasks- like that of laughing and sneezing. Thus, under such circumstances, the possibility of a comeback was being considered as far fetched. But remember, Mikaela Shiffrin is a champion. And surely, she is determined to spread new joy to her fans in the New Year. Making a surprising announcement, Shiffrin has announced her comeback to mainstream skiing! 

According to the announcement, the quest for her 100th world cup is very much on! Featuring in a giant slalom race in Courchevel, France, Milaela Shiffrin will be back on the snow! And the timeline for her return? Well, it’s just next Thursday! Taking to her Instagram, Shiffrin uploaded glimpses of her training with the caption, “Courchevel • 1/30.” However, coming back from a near fatal injury, Shiffrin is not getting over ambitious. Instead of eyeing her 100th world cup win, the skiing queen is looking to get into the groove. 

In an exclusive interview with Associated Press, the 29-year-old said, “It’s going to be a little bit nerve-wracking, to be honest… These past six weeks, every step it’s like, ‘Geez, should this be hurting less? Should I be better at this? Should I be more tolerant of the pain?’ There are so many questions that come up in your mind of basically whether or not you’re doing well enough.” But all the confusions have finally taken a backseat for the skiing legend. She even mentioned that as she looks back to how far she has come from the gruesome turn of events, things look “pretty exciting.”

Shiffrin is also aiming to compete in the World Championships in Austria next month. And guess what? The 99 world cup winner will be competing in both the slalom and the giant slalom! Now, while Shiffrin seems to be back on the snow like before, just weeks prior, things did not look so bright owing to a complex surgery.

Mikaela Shiffrin missed a major race in January

Back in mid-January 2025, Mikaela Shiffrin took to her X to write about her unavailability for one of her favorite races. While the FIS Ski World Cup action went to Flachau, Austria, Shiffrin could not help reminiscing her good old days at the venue. “I’ll miss you, Flachau… One of the best races, with the best atmosphere on the @fisalpineWorld Cup circuit!!” 

Well, it was quite justified for the 29-year-old to feel nostalgic. Afterall, this was the same race where she won her 94th World Cup victory last year in January. A major reason for her absence from the race was her puncture wounds. While the medical team cleared and gave a wound vacuum, it did not quite work. Instead, Shiffrin had to undergo an additional surgery to completely get rid of the accumulated fluid. 

Thankfully, the dark clouds seem to have cleared from Mikaela Shiffrin’s comeback. And while she will once again try to reign on the snow, the crowd will be watching with bated breaths. Afterall, everybody knows, if things go well, then the elusive 100th victory is not very far now.