"I feel quite far away" - Mikaela Shiffrin makes confession as she opts out of giant slalom at World Championships

American alpine ski racer Mikaela Shiffrin recently made a major announcement about the upcoming 2025 World Ski Championships, which will be held between February 4 and 16 in Austria.

She recently returned to the slopes last week in Courchevel, France after the Killington crash in November in the slalom event where she finished 10th. Following this event, Shiffrin was set to compete in the giant slalom and slalom races in the World event. However, she recently announced certain changes to her plans for the Austria event.

Shiffrin took to her Instagram handle on February 10 to reveal that she is not mentally ready to compete in the giant slalom race in Austria. While mentioning that the giant slalom crash in Kellington back in November is one of the major reasons for this mental burden and anxiety towards the giant slalom races, Shiffrin wrote:

"I’ve poured all of my energy into getting my giant slalom in shape to be prepared to start World Champs GS in Saalbach on Thursday. The long-story-short is…I’m not there. Right now, I feel quite far away. I’m currently working through some mental obstacles in order to return to the GS start with the intensity required for racing."

She further added:

"I really didn’t anticipate experiencing so much of this kind of mental/PTSD struggle in GS from my injury in Killington. Like always, I tried diving into the challenge, hoping to get there by Worlds. Since we have now realized that the GS is not in the cards just yet, that re-opens up the opportunity for me to join my teammates in the Team Combined."

In her post, Mikaela Shiffrin also noted that her coach has shared that she will team up with 2025 Ski World Championships downhill gold medalist, Breezy Johnson.

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Mikaela Shiffrin shared her thoughts after competing in her first World Cup race since the Killington crash

Mikaela Shiffrin during her inspection race before the slalom race in Courchevel, France (Image via: Getty Images)

Mikaela Shiffrin recently shared her expectations after competing in her first World Cup race since Killington crash in Courchevel, France.

Following her 10th-placed finish in the race, Shiffrin shared that she didn't participate in the race with the expectation of winning and that her priority was to assess her level against other top-level competitors. She said (via AP News):

"I didn’t come into this race expecting that I was going to win. I have to be at my top, top level. Now we build from here. It was a very important step in my recovery to see how I’m stacking up with the top skiers in the world"

During the conversation, Mikaela Shiffrin also revealed that race was important for her because she wanted to spend some time on the slopes before the 2025 Ski World Championships.