When the women’s Audi FIS Ski World Cup returned to Killington Resort over Thanksgiving weekend for its eighth year, the atmosphere was absolutely electric. A crowd of 21,500 fans was on their feet, ringing bells and jumping with excitement as Mikaela Shiffrin took to the course. With a strong lead after her first run, she was just moments away from clinching her 100th World Cup victory. The crowd could feel it—it seemed like it was going to be her moment. But then, in a shocking twist, Shiffrin veered off course, crashing through two gates and sliding into the netting. The cheers quickly turned to silence as everyone waited, anxiously hoping she was okay.

The crash happened far up the hill, so spectators couldn’t quite make out the details from the base. It wasn’t until a few minutes later that Shiffrin was carefully placed on a ski patrol sled and taken to Rutland Regional Medical Center for evaluation. Courtney Harkins from the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team later shared that Shiffrin had been in shock and worried about possible internal injuries. While there was no ligament damage, she had a deep puncture wound to her abdomen and significant muscle trauma. “There was no ligament damage…but she’s pretty sore,” Harkins said the wound was more grave than dull and that doctors could not suture because of the elevated risk of infection.

A week after the crash, Shiffrin shared her reflections on Instagram, mixing gratitude with a bit of humor. “Thank you to everyone for your support! The whole vibe in @killingtonmtn —fans, volunteers, hill prep workers, family—it’s truly a special atmosphere. I know it wasn’t the weekend that many were expecting or hoping for…but alas.. reflecting back on the crash after about a week, I’m incredibly thankful the crash wasn’t worse. It was damn close to piercing some organs that would have changed this situation entirely for the worse.”

Mikaela Shiffrin also took a moment to highlight her performance, saying her giant slalom had been the best it had ever been on that track. “My GS skiing was the best it’s ever been on that track… Superstar has always been particularly challenging for me in GS, and I felt like I broke through some kind of barrier. That was the most excited I have been about my feeling in a GS race for a while. That may seem strange, given the circumstances—but, we’ve always talked about my goals revolving around the skiing itself, and the feeling. And I felt good on Saturday…until I was impaled, of course. *LOL*.”

As for the cause of the puncture wound, there was a lot of speculation. Some suggested it could have been caused by the b-net pin or the base of the gate. But after reviewing the video multiple times, Shiffrin believed it was likely the tip of her ski pole. “we think it was the tip of my ski pole…given the size and shape of the point of entry. . Maybe it pierced in, and then I rolled over it, which is what dug out the small cavern… hard to say, really. We’re just glad it’s limited to muscle damage.,” she said.

Despite everything, Shiffrin remained hopeful for the future of Killington as a World Cup venue. “There’s a lot of chatter about whether or not Killington will be back next year…I sincerely hope it will… Of course there’s some construction planned, and that might throw things up in the air,” she said, despite some potential construction changes. She ended her post by congratulating her teammates on their strong performances and expressing excitement for the upcoming BC World Cup, where she would be cheering on the historic women’s circuit. However, this isn’t the first time she faced a heart-wrenching injury!

Inside Mikaela Shiffrin’s fight to get back on her skis

Back in January, Mikaela Shiffrin faced a harrowing crash during a World Cup downhill event in Italy. In an Instagram update, she revealed that while she was lucky to avoid major ligament damage, she sustained “a sprain of the tibial-fibular ligaments.” She explained, “The truth is, it’s so dependent on the phase of the rehab I’m in right now. So much of it is daily tests…different kinds of stress, different kinds of load on the knee.” While she confirmed she wouldn’t be racing in Andorra’s next race after that, Shiffrin acknowledged the unpredictable nature of recovery, emphasizing that progress was truly a day-by-day journey.

Recalling the crash, Mikaela Shiffrin admitted there was little she could do to stop it, despite sensing the danger just moments before impact. After landing a small jump, she was knocked off balance, hit a gate, and collided with the fencing surrounding the slope. “This one, to be honest, I kind of saw it coming from the air, a little bit,” she said. “I was trying to avoid that scenario, but it happens fast enough there’s not a lot you can do about it.” With the surface rock solid and the forces from the landing immense, she had no chance to recover. Shiffrin knows she was lucky to walk away with relatively minor injuries and remains focused on her recovery. And with yet another new injury, fans everywhere continue to send their love and support, hoping to see her back on the slopes soon!