Six weeks ago, Mikaela Shiffrin didn鈥檛 have the core strength to even rise out of a chair. A sneeze or a laugh brought on instant pain.
That was all due to a serious crash in a giant slalom race on , where something punctured her in the side 鈥� still a mystery 鈥� and caused severe trauma to her oblique muscles.
It鈥檚 been a demanding and difficult road back for the fast-healing Shiffrin, who plans to make her World Cup return at a slalom race in Courchevel, France, next Thursday. Her journey to the start gate included preventative surgery to ward off an infection inside a wound that penetrated through three layers of muscle to hours of arduous rehab to reactivate those crucial core muscles to feeling comfortable again weaving through a course.
That鈥檚 why Shiffrin鈥檚 focus is solely on progression, not so much her pursuit of World Cup win No. 100. Given where she was, just to make it back this quick from an injury that鈥檚 not exactly common for a ski racer and resulted in her physical therapist consulting with baseball and hockey teams, it鈥檚 already a big win.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a little bit nerve-wracking, to be honest,鈥� Shiffrin said of her return in an interview with The Associated Press. 鈥淭hese past six weeks, every step it鈥檚 like, 鈥楪eez, should this be hurting less? Should I be better at this? Should I be more tolerant of the pain?鈥� There are so many questions that come up in your mind of basically whether or not you鈥檙e doing well enough.
鈥淏ut when we take a step back and look where we are now ... it鈥檚 pretty exciting.鈥�
What happened on the crash
Shiffrin has repeatedly watched the crash. She鈥檚 analyzed precisely what happened in a race where she was leading and looked headed toward milestone win No. 100.
Long story short: She put too much weight on her inside ski on an aggressive line.
鈥淚 was like, 鈥橧鈥檒l be hanging on for dear life, but it鈥檚 going to be fast,'鈥� said the 29-year-old Shiffrin, whose plans for the world championships in Austria next month include racing the slalom and giant slalom.
Shiffrin hit the snow, smashed into the gate, toppled over her skis and slid into the protective fence. She suffered no serious bone or ligament damage but something impaled her.
She's scrutinized over what the object might have been, with theories ranging from her ski pole to a piece of the gate. Fans have even reached out to offer their thoughts.
Only later did she find out just how close of call it was 鈥� whatever stabbed her nearly punctured her abdominal wall and her colon.
鈥淎 millimeter from pretty catastrophic,鈥� Shiffrin said. 鈥淭hen it was like, 鈥榊our colon is intact. This is just a hole in your side. That鈥檚 fine.鈥� I鈥檓 like, 鈥楤ut there鈥檚 still a hole in my side and I can鈥檛 move.鈥欌��
The long days of recovery
First, some rest. Then, a plan once the inflammation subsided around the oblique muscles, which are located on the sides of the abdomen and are instrumental for twisting and bending.
This was such a unique injury to ski racing. Her physical therapist, Regan Dewhirst, reached out to the training staffs of the Los Angeles Angels and the Edmonton Oilers for advice, since baseball and hockey players have had their share of oblique ailments. Each helped provide a framework for Shiffrin鈥檚 recovery.
鈥淭he biggest thing was to make sure you get her moving in a pain-free way as quickly as possible,鈥� Dewhirst said. 鈥淕et the muscle activated properly and then once it鈥檚 activating, you need to try to introduce these sport-specific motions as soon as you can.鈥�
They took the necessary steps at Shiffrin鈥檚 pace. If she felt good, they were aggressive. If she needed to rest, they rested. She was looking at about a 6-to-12 week timeline for a return but really no one knew for sure.
鈥淓very step of the way, it鈥檚 gone as well as we could hope,鈥� said Shiffrin, who鈥檚 engaged to Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, the with an injury. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been pushing, too.鈥�
Back on snow
Shiffrin returned to skiing on Jan. 1. A few simple runs to 鈥済et at those ski-specific motions you really can鈥檛 simulate in a controlled gym space,鈥� Dewhirst said.
Two weeks later, Shiffrin was back in the slalom gates. Again, some very easy turns to start.
鈥淛ust slowly taking on the progression and not throwing in too much into the fire at once,鈥� said Shiffrin, a two-time Olympic champion who on the U.S. ski team after the comeback of . 鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of hard to explain to people just how much you put your body through just to make one single slalom or GS turn, let alone 55-to-60 in a row.鈥�
Earlier this week, she had a little hiccup that sent her heart racing. She hit a pile of snow in a training run, one ski slid into the other and she nearly fell.
It was reminiscent of her crash.
鈥淭hat was scary,鈥� Shiffrin said. 鈥淏ut I was also like, 鈥楾here it is.鈥� I have to desensitize to those little things again because you don鈥檛 ski a full-length race course without some little moments of like, 鈥楾hat was kind of scary.鈥欌��
Off to Europe
Shiffrin departs for Europe this week and the plan is to increase the intensity ahead of the Courchevel competition.
But that plan remains fluid.
鈥淚f for whatever reason something crops up and it鈥檚 not quite there yet, no big deal," Dewhirst said. "This is an evolving continuum.鈥�
Shiffrin won鈥檛 be racing any downhill events this season but is leaving the door open for an occasional super-G.
鈥淚t depends on how much we can fit into a really short time crunch,鈥� Shiffrin explained. 鈥淔or me, it鈥檚 just been put your head down and do the work and just do this as well as you can.鈥�
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AP skiing:
Pat Graham, The Associated Press
