Shiffrin takes “monumental step” with 4th place as US ski team shines in World Cup opener

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SÖLDEN, Austria (AP) — Very much used to winning World Cup races, Mikaela Shiffrin could hardly be more pleased with finishing fourth in the Alpine skiing season opener on Saturday.

Since her frightening crash in a giant slalom last November, the record holder of 101 career wins has been trying to become friends again with the discipline in which no woman has ever won more races than her tally of 22.

Starting the race with bib 20, Shiffrin was sixth after the opening run and the American star improved two more spots for her best GS result in 21 months.

“It’s huge,” Shiffrin said after the race, which was won by Austria’s Julia Scheib, with Shiffrin’s teammates Paula Moltzan and Nina O’Brien placing second and sixth, respectively.

“It’s going to be hard to catch up to the top, top girls like Julia and Paula, they are executing so well. So, I know I have a lot of work to do,” Shiffrin added.

“I’m just excited to be in this position. It was a huge step. I’m fighting for points, fighting to stay in the top 30, fighting to ski well when it’s dark and bumpy on a long course in a race. Every single part of today was such a monumental step.”

Shiffrin, who took Olympic GS gold in 2018, had her last World Cup win in the discipline in December 2023 in Lienz. Her last podium followed the next month with a second place in Jasna – six days before she crashed in a downhill on the course that will be used for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics.

She then didn’t compete in GS until placing fifth in last year’s season opener. Five weeks later, she sustained a puncture wound to the right side of her abdomen and severe damage to her oblique abdominal muscles in the crash at her home GS in Killington, Vermont.

Suffering from lingering post-traumatic stress disorder, she competed in three more giant slaloms last season, finishing 25th in the first but failing to score points in the other two. It ultimately resulted in Shiffrin losing her place among the best-ranked racers in the discipline, who get the favorable early start positions.

Needing to work her way back up the rankings, though, turned out to be an extra motivator.

“It’s a boost of excitement to know that I can do good skiing, starting bib 20, I can climb up the ranks. It’s more like when I started racing on the World Cup. It was so exciting at that time, and it’s the same feeling right now,” Shiffrin said.

Moltzan was impressed by Shiffrin’s return to form in giant slalom.

“She was a little bit scared of GS last season and just to see her come back and put down a really solid result, it’s pretty awesome,” Moltzan said. “The mental game in ski racing is much bigger than anybody allows to see.”

After all the doubts and insecurity surrounding her GS skiing last season, Saturday’s result felt like a victory for Shiffrin.

“I’m fourth and I’m like over the moon,” she said. “So, it’s a really, really good step and I have improvements to make, still. So, it’s exciting to start the season.”

Shiffrin’s next two races are slaloms in Finland on Nov. 15 and in Austria the week after.

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Eric Willemsen on X: https://x.com/eWilmedia

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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing