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Mikaela Shiffrin’s journey toward her 100th World Cup win took an unexpected turn on Saturday when a crash during the second run of the Killington giant slalom sidelined the ski racing legend. But while Shiffrin recovered off the slopes, the U.S. Ski Team delivered one of its strongest collective performances of the season, offering a glimmer of hope and momentum for American skiing.

Shiffrin was on the cusp of winning her 100th World Cup race when disaster struck.

The 29-year-old ski phenom lost her edge and crashed heavily in the Killington giant slalom. She somersaulted and hit two gates before abruptly stopping in the fencing. She asked ski patrol for a sled because she “was in shock, entirely unable to move and worried about internal organ trauma,” she said in a U.S. Ski Team statement. She went by ambulance to the local hospital for evaluation.

Doctors determined that she had had no damage to her ligaments, bones, or internal organs. She suffered a puncture wound to the right side of her abdomen and severe muscle trauma but did not get stitches for the wound “because it’s too deep and there’s risk of infection,” Shiffrin said in the statement.

“She is pretty sore. Her return to snow is TBD (to be determined) and more information will be forthcoming,” stated the U.S. Ski Team.

Having difficulty walking, Shiffrin skipped Sunday’s slalom and instead cheered for her teammates from her lodging in Killington.

Paula Moltzan and Nina O’Brien both scored career bests, with fifth and sixth, respectively, in the GS on Saturday. And 19-year-old Elizabeth Bocock—in eighth after the first run—collected her first World Cup points by finishing 23rd. Katie Hensien also had a good race, climbing from 21st after the first run to 13th.

How the Day Unfolded

On a cold, blustery day, the usual raucous Killington crowd was waiting to see what could be Shiffrin’s 100th win. She skied the first run so flawlessly that it looked like nothing would stop her. With a rare combination of strength, balance, endurance, smarts, and touch for the snow, Shiffrin has rarely DNFed—ski racing lingo for did not finish. In 274 World Cup starts across 13 seasons, she had only DNFed 18 times.

The last time she didn’t finish in a GS? Seven years ago.

So when she came onto Superstar’s steep final pitch on her second run and leaned in, losing her edge and somersaulting into the next gate, the crowd gasped, then sat silently as ski patrol converged on a downed Shiffrin. The crowd cheered as they brought her down in a sled, and Shiffrin raised a hand to wave. (For on-demand access,  subscribers ($89.99/year) can watch these races anytime.)

A Home Snow Win

Shiffrin came to Killington hoping to reach the 100-win milestone on home snow. She spent a formative part of her childhood training just 38.4 miles from Killington—at Storrs Hill in New Hampshire. As an 8-year-old, Shiffrin and her older brother Taylor ate SpaghettiOs in the car after school, then trained under the lights. From there, she enrolled at Burke Mountain Academy in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. The crowd was filled with many who knew her, and the Killington Cup was a race she loves.

“I love being here,” she said the night before the GS. “I love the crowd. I love the people. I love how gritty and determined everybody is to pull off the best World Cup race possible and how supportive everybody is. It’s so raw and real and New England.”

She had specifically targeted the Killington GS this year. She wanted to execute her best skiing on this hill, which had bedeviled her in previous races. In six previous Killington Cup GSs, she finished on the podium only three times. Without going into technical details, she called the hill “a nuisance in GS.”

But on the first run of GS, it looked like she had mastered the nuisance. Only Olympic GS champ Sara Hector was within a half-second of her.

Since partnering with the Share Winter Foundation earlier this year, Shiffrin has been skiing for something greater than herself, and the records finally mean something. She has shifted her perspective and sees the record/milestone conversation as an opportunity to bring more attention to the sport—and thus more money to an organization that aims to get more kids on snow.

Now, the 100th World Cup win is indefinitely postponed. Shiffrin still has a chance to celebrate the milestone win on home snow—at Beaver Creek, Colorado, near where she also spent much of her childhood and now owns a home. The women’s World Cup heads to Beaver Creek, Colorado, for speed races on December 14-15. Shiffrin plans to race the super-G on Sunday, Dec. 15. But that race is only two weeks away. Will Shiffrin recover by then?

Tremblant World Cup Canceled

In more ski-racing news: next weekend’s Tremblant World Cup was canceled. While Killington received 21 inches of snow on Thanksgiving Day, Tremblant was not as lucky. Due to a lack of snow, race organizers were forced to cancel the two women’s World Cup giant slaloms. The races were slated for next weekend, Dec. 7-8. 2024.