Mikaela Shiffrin will not join Lindsey Vonn for team combined event at FIS Alpine World Ski championships
Gabriele Facciotti/AP photo
The two winningest skiers in World Cup history won’t team up at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships this month.
Mikaela Shiffrin announced Tuesday on social media that she is going to focus on the giant slalom and slalom races in Saalbach, Austria and won’t take part in the team combined — closing the door for a potential pairing with 82-time winner Lindsey Vonn.
“I am so excited to follow the team combined event and cheer for my teammates,” the Edwards skier posted on Instagram. “There are so many women skiing fast this year, and plenty of medal potential in the mix! I would have been lucky to get paired with any of my amazing teammates and will be cheering loud for them in all the coming races!”
Shiffrin suffered a puncture wound in her oblique muscle during a giant slalom crash at the World Cup event on Nov. 30 in Killington, Vermont. The injury and subsequent surgery sidelined her from World Cup races until Jan. 30, when the 99-time World Cup winner placed 10th in the night slalom in Courchevel, France.
“As exciting as it was to return to racing in Courchevel, my team and I are continuing to take it one step at a time as I work to get back to 100%,” Shiffrin wrote on Instagram on Tuesday. “That is proving to be no small task — each day so far has come with a new set of challenges.”
Support Local Journalism
Shiffrin’s two tech events are slated for Feb. 13 (giant slalom) and Feb. 15 (slalom). The new two-person team combined event — which takes the aggregate times from one downhill and one slalom — is Feb. 11. Vonn — who has notched a pair of top-10 finishes in her return to the World Cup after a five-year hiatus — floated the idea of pairing up with Shiffrin last month.
“I was asked a question last week by a German reporter, if Mikaela would race with me in the combined, would I do it? And I said, absolutely, I would,” Vonn told FIS on Monday. “I think it would be probably one of the coolest things in ski racing to have 181 World Cup victories on one team. I don’t see how that wouldn’t be incredible.”
“I don’t know how she is physically,” Vonn continued. “I haven’t talked to her because she just came back. So, I don’t know if she’s even competing in the combined but if there is a chance to compete with her, I would absolutely love to.”
Vonn is set to compete in the super-G on Thursday.
