A few days ago, Mikaela Shiffrin was excited about pursuing her 100th World Cup win on home turf. However, the journey was halted the moment she suffered a puncture wound on the right side of her abdomen. A severe muscle trauma was also followed by the crash that caused her to be sidelined for probably the rest of the year.

However, the 29-year-old is a fighter. She hasn’t let her injury deter her mentally and is coping with it to fasten her recovery, as she wants to return to the snow for that 100th victory, but with good health. So, to achieve her current ambitions, she has found a newer way to get her mind out of this heartbreaking incident.

Mikaela Shiffrin tackling wound with creativity

Getting an injury amidst chasing history in alpine skiing would have really hampered Mikaela Shiffrin’s state of mind. She was confidently heading into the event in Killington, but all went downhill due to this puncture wound. So, amidst recovery, the American alpine skier decided to name her wound vac “Allen.” This was followed by a cluster of questions from the fanbase to which Shiffrin had an interesting reply.

The 29-year-old revealed the reason behind this name on her Instagram post, stating, “So this is everybody’s intro to Marcel the Shell with Shoes On. This is why.” The social media post further played a clip from the PG-rated movie, where the main character, Marcel, always wanted to have a dog, but since they will never be able to obtain one, they showcased the way they cope with the situation by tying a hair to a piece of lint, and then they drag it around, pretending it to be their pet animal.

The message from the alpine skier was quite clear in this video. Apart from the wholesome aspect of the scene, it depicts a popular phrase that states, “Not everything in life is achieved.” Surely, Shiffrin has 99 world cups in her career, but she was still looking forward to that 100th win on her home turf. However, this gruesome injury immediately put her ambitions for the rest of the year to a halt, as now she doesn’t even know when she will be able to return to the sport.

Disclosing the horrifying details of her crash

Racing in Killington, Vermont, was no easy feat, but it still was the venue that could’ve potentially been the 100th World Cup victory for Mikaela Shiffrin. However, the skier in her second run in the World Cup giant slalom race flipped and slid her way to the protective fencing, resulting in a puncture wound on the right side of her abdomen. She was then immediately rushed to the medical center, and it was confirmed that Shiffrin didn’t have any other injuries except the puncture wound.

After all the medical procedures, the 29-year-old found time to record a video, posting it on her Instagram, stating, “I am so sorry to scare everybody, and it looks like all scans so far are clear. So thank you for the support and concern, and congratulations to the winners and to my teammates for incredible performances.” Furthermore, the athlete described her injury as similar to a stab wound and included a photo of the abrasion in her social media post. This was a disastrous World Cup for the American athlete, marking the second time since 2018 that she failed to complete her race in such an event.