Gut-Behrami wins
Shiffrin makes her comeback, but gives away the ball
Mikaela Shiffrin will make her comeback in the Alpine Ski World Cup on Sunday (10.30/13.30, live ORF 1) in the slalom in Åre after one and a half months. However, the US-American will no longer be involved in the battle for the overall World Cup victory. As she confirmed in an online media event on Friday, she will not only be skipping the Åre giant slalom on Saturday, but will also definitely not be taking part in the speed races in Saalbach-Hinterglemm.
The Swiss skier Lara Gut-Behrami, who is already 328 points behind in the World Cup, can no longer be caught by Shiffrin with a total of six competitions remaining, but with a 125-point lead over the Slovakian Petra Vlhova, the small slalom globe should still be possible. Shiffrin also declared that she still has her sights set on a start in the giant slalom in Saalbach next weekend.
The five-time triumphant can obviously live with Gut-Behrami's second overall victory after 2016. "She's had such a great career, she's been a podium racer right from the start and has been so consistent the whole time," said Shiffrin. "And as a fan of the sport, I just love watching her."
Shiffrin spoke of a "race against time" that she has had to compete in over the past few weeks. In a crash at the end of January in Cortina d'Ampezzo, the 28-year-old suffered an inner ligament injury in her left knee and has been fighting to return as quickly as possible ever since. "Yesterday I completed the first (training) session with race intensity, tomorrow two more runs are planned. (...) Overall, my skiing has felt good over the past three sessions," said Shiffrin.
In addition to her knee injury, Shiffrin emphasized that her syndesmosis ligament had been causing her problems recently. She had never thought about ending her career. On her way back, however, she had to keep adapting her expectations. It was "agonizing" to have to postpone the comeback date several times.
Emotionally, however, the past few weeks have been a wild ride, and not just because of her own injury. On January 13, her partner Aleksander Aamodt Kilde suffered deep cuts to his lower leg and an injury to his left shoulder in a fall in Wengen, which resulted in a lot of blood loss. The Norwegian has a long road back ahead of him. "One thing with Alex that has been so unique is that we have grown together over the past few years," Shiffrin emphasized. "We share so much. But most importantly, we understand each other's feelings and what we're going through."
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