After Killington crash horrors, Mikaela Shiffrin kicks off early preparations for 2025-26 season

Mikaela Shiffrin shared a sneak peek into practicing for the Giant Slalom season in her recent Instagram update. The American skier recently celebrated her 30th birthday.

A few days ago, Shiffrin achieved a historical achievement by earning her 156th podium finish after attaining a third-place finish at slalom in Are, Sweden, behind Austrian skiers Katharina Truppe and Katharina Liensberger, who claimed first and second places, respectively. Before this achievement, she also earned her 100th World Cup victory in Sestriere, Italy on February 23.

The skier had a roller-coaster experience during the 2024-25 Giant Slalom season, as she faced an accident on November 30, 2024, during a serious crash in Killington, Vermont. After the experience, Shiffrin has begun early preparations for the 2025-26 Giant Slalom season and shared a bunch of pictures of the same.

In the pictures, she was seen practicing on the slopes and added the caption:

"GS Season 2025/26 starts now... Buckle up, buttercup🫠😘"

Most recently, she celebrated her 30th birthday on March 13, by sharing a few pictures on her social media. The first picture showcased Shiffrin during her childhood days, when she was sitting in front of a cake with candles, celebrating her birthday, and wearing a party hat. In the second slide, she shared a recent picture of her eating an ice cream.

She added the caption:

"Some things never change😅🎂😋 Thank you for all the very kind birthday wishes! Feeling so much support from so many people is a greater gift than I could ever imagine…🥹🥹"

Mikaela Shiffrin made her feelings known about making a comeback after the serious injury

Mikaela Shiffrin recently sat for an interview on the show 'We Need to Talk,' where she opened up about returning to the sport after her injury at Killington. She revealed the reason behind not waiting for the next alpine skiing season to get back to the slopes and spoke about her injury in detail.

Reflecting on the journey, Shiffrin talked about her rehab and making a comeback this season.

"I think as soon as I kind of realised that there are a lot of checkpoints along the way in this rehab and just kind of okay how's oblique healing, when can I start activating those muscles, working through isometric work and then rotational and all these different checkpoints and as I was working through them we were getting a better gauge about when realistically return to getting on my skis and then potentially back to training and then potentially back to racing," Mikaela Shiffrin said.

She added:

"As it became more clear that physically I might be able to withstand racing again this season, I couldn't imagine not trying, and even though this has been challenging to return, I prefer to be much aware of these challenges than beginning next season."

Shiffrin also received appreciation from Billie Jean King for achieving her 156th podium finish.