"Doesn’t actually mean I’m 100% recovered" - Mikaela Shiffrin makes honest admission after announcing return to skiing

Mikaela Shiffrin has clarified her fitness status after announcing that she would return to skiing at the end of the month. The Olympic champion suffered a puncture to her abdomen that required surgery last year and continues to recover from the wound.

Shiffrin announced her return during an appearance on the Today show last week and later confirmed her participation in the Courchevel Stifel World Cup race through a video teaser on Instagram.

"Courchevel • 1/30," the caption of the video read.

However, the winningest skier in alpine skiing World Cup history recently discussed her injury in an interview with Ski Racing and said she hasn't recovered fully yet.

"The next step is returning to competition. That doesn’t actually mean I’m 100% recovered… we’ll need to continue working on healing and in particular scarring and increased tightness for a while,” Mikaela Shiffrin said.

The 29-year-old suffered a puncture in her side muscles after a serious crash in Killington on November 30 and said she could feel the gap between her muscles in the first few weeks.

“I could literally feel a gap between a section of my muscle for the first couple weeks," she added.

The three-time Olympic medalist has regained her muscle connection now and is just one win away from reaching 100 World Cup victories. She is eyeing the World Championships in Saalbach, Austria following her January 30 return.

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"The technique and timing are coming back with each run I take" - Mikaela Shiffrin on her race fitness

Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup - Mikaela Shiffrin in action - Source: Getty

Speaking in the aforementioned interview, Mikaela Shiffrin also addressed her race fitness and said her technique and timing were gradually coming back. The two-time Olympic gold medalist also expressed gratitude for being able to return from what she termed a 'season-ending injury'.

“The technique and timing are coming back with each run I take. This is kind of a case of not overthinking it but just enjoying being able to step into a race start again. Any other athlete with a season-ending injury would choose 100% of the time to be in the position to return same-season,” she said.

The 29-year-old noted that she was two weeks ahead of her recovery timeline.

“When you compare it to clinical research… I’m around two weeks ahead, if not more. Looking back now, it’s so obvious how much improvement there has been," she added.

While Shiffrin is just one win away from a historic century of World Cup victories, she is focusing on progress and won't be racing any downhill events this season.