"My life might never be same that doesn’t mean it’s not worth it" - Mikaela Shiffrin reflects on Courchevel's special place ahead of skiing comeback

Mikaela Shiffrin opened up about why the Courchevel venue holds a special place in her life ahead of her skiing return on January 30. She will feature in two slalom runs - first at 11:00 AM and second at 2:00 PM Eastern time.

After her crash at the Vermont World Cup, she underwent surgery to repair an abdominal puncture, which kept her away from competitions. With the Courchevel World Cup race, she will also make her comeback to the circuit.

Before competing in Courchevel, she reflected on why the venue holds a special place in her life during a pre-race interview (via ABC News):

“It was very much the first race that helped me believe on any level that I might be able to return to the form that I had before my dad’s accident. It helped me realize that even though my life might never be the same, that doesn’t mean it’s not worth it. There is a lot of meaning built into this race for me. It’s pretty beautiful that I’m able to make this return here.”

It is worth noting that she registered her 67th World Cup win overall in Courchevel, which was also her first victory since the death of her father, Jeff Shiffrin, who tragically suffered a head injury at their home in Colorado. In the race, Shiffrin recorded a time of 2:19.63 in the giant slalom race to finish ahead of Italy's Federica Brignone by 0.82s.

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Mikaela Shiffrin recounts her crash in World Cup race in Vermont

Mikaela Shiffrin at Vermont World Cup race. Source: Getty

Mikaela Shiffrin reflected on her skiing accident that happened on her second run at the World Cup in Killington, Vermont, on November 30, 2024. She mentioned that her crash happened when her inside ski unexpectedly hooked up, thus colliding with her outside ski. Via Atomic Ski Fans on December 10, she said:

“I was really trying to push my line, coming over that final pitch, and I came into that, basically, that left-footed turn where I crashed. My inside ski kind of hooked up and the surface was amazing, but, just hooked up in a different way and crashed into my outside ski. And, at that point, the way that I was directed, it was just all my momentum was going straight towards the entrance gate of the delay.”

“So, I really had no time to try to shift or avoid the gate and crashed through the gate with my oblique abdomen. And it seems like something on the gate, like, pierced/impaled me. I'm not totally sure..It's not a huge gaping wound. It's an enormous scrape and abrasion and, like, a lot of, sort of, bleeding of the muscle…Yeah, so that's, I guess, what happened,” Shiffrin added.

Following this crash, Mikaela Shiffrin announced her comeback to the World Cup circuit on January 24, 2025 via an Instagram post.