(Reuters) – Mikaela Shiffrin will be sidelined for at least a few weeks after she suffered a puncture wound in her abdomen and severe muscle trauma during a giant slalom race in Killington, Vermont, the twice Olympic gold medallist said on Monday.
Shiffrin was chasing a milestone 100th World Cup win on Saturday when she caught an edge and crashed into the safety netting at full speed, remaining down for several minutes before being taken to a medical clinic.
Shiffrin thanked her fans for their support on social media on Monday and said it would take “a few weeks minimum” to be able to “take on much of any force.”
“I literally have a puncture wound and some pretty significant muscular trauma around my whole right oblique area,” said Shiffrin. “We’re starting the process to be on the mend and I hope to get back to being able to ski soon-ish.”
Shiffrin previously missed six weeks after injuring her knee in a high-speed crash in January while competing in a World Cup downhill in Cortina d’Ampezzo and subsequently dropped the discipline from her schedule.
Shiffrin is already considered the most successful Alpine skier in World Cup history when she topped retired Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark’s record 86 wins in March.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
