Mikaela Shiffrin takes to piano to practice patience after "painful" day

American alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin is expected to return to the World Cup competition on March 9-10 in Are, Sweden. But she is still recovering from her crash in the Cortina d'Ampezzo downhill. Shiffrin had sustained an MCL sprain and tibia-fibula ligament sprains in the knee and ankle, as well as bone bruising.

The 28-year-old has been sharing her health updates with fans. Although she has previously said that she has been progressing, Shiffrin recently took to Instagram to open up in a video on how difficult the journey has been.

She said:

"So today was hard. It's not surprising. It was painful a little bit. I shouldn't be pain free at this point of course but that is what it is. That's where I am right now."

Shiffrin expressed concern, saying:

"It's just so Are (World Cup competition in Sweden) is not so far away. So I feel that a little bit. And we are doing the best we can."

The World Cup winner also shared her piano skills with fans. She said:

"It has been really nice for the mind and the soul. And there's a song that I've been waiting to learn for over a year. It's pretty by Astrid S and Dagne. And I've been wanting to learn it."

Watch the video here:

Mikaela Shiffrin does light training, tests light GS free skiing

Shiffrin has been recovering and progressiving positively. She aims to compete next week in Sweden. About six days ago, Shiffrin gave an update to fans about her recovery, saying:

"conducted two days of light slalom open gate training on flat terrain and tested out some light GS free skiing."

The skiing champion hopes to increase the pitch and speed on her snow sessions over the next 10 days, and use a variety of course settings. Shiffrin said:

"Ideally a little bit more aggressive surface that is more similar to a race venue."

She highlighted on Instagram that she used her recovery process to also watch race. The Olympic gold medalist applauded her teammates:

"Really amazing to see the US women performing so well. It's also just been fun to watch Lara, who has been just stunning to watch and continues to show some really inspiring skiing!"

Shiffrin became an Olympic champion at the age of 18, the only teen to win the Alpine skiing gold medal in the last 40 years.