Mikaela Shiffrin is taken off the course on a sled in the second run of the women's giant slalom at the Stifel Killington Cup on Saturday in Killington, Vermont.
Mikaela Shiffrin is taken off the course on a sled in the second run of the women's giant slalom at the Stifel Killington Cup on Saturday in Killington, Vermont.
Mikaela Shiffrin's bid for a record-extending 100th career World Cup came undone when she crashed late in her second run of the giant slalom event on Saturday at Killington, Vermont.
She was taken off the slope on a sled. U.S. Ski & Snowboard said on X that Shiffrin was being evaluated but suggested followers should "take solace" from the fact that she had asked about her split times.
Shiffrin, who spent formative years growing up in Lyme, N.H., posted the fastest first run and looked well on course to reach the milestone after a blazing start to her second run before she caught an edge that sent one ski flying as she did a somersault and crashed into the safety netting.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist remained down for several minutes before being transported off the hill on a rescue sled.
As they saw her come into view on the sled, the home crowd that had shown up eager to witness a milestone win offered polite applause.
"The course and conditions are really spectacular," Shiffrin had said after finishing the first run with a 0.32-second advantage over Sweden's Sara Hector.
"It's pretty straightforward and I think there may be some spots on the hill with a few stones that are kind of surfacing as people ski.
"Some of the skiers coming down, they look fine, and then their ski just slips out. And the surface is actually really great so I don't think it's an issue of not enough grip so much as you hit a stone and you lose your edge."
Hector went on to win with a combined time of one minute 53.08 seconds to beat Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic by 0.54 seconds. Switzerland's Camille Rast was third.
"It's so sad of course for Mikaela, a crash like that after she was skiing so well. It breaks my heart," said Hector.
Shiffrin missed six weeks after injuring her knee in a high-speed crash in January while competing in a World Cup downhill in Cortina d'Ampezzo. In October she said she would drop the discipline from her schedule for this season.
Since returning from injury in March, Shiffrin has shown no signs of rust. She closed last season with a pair of slalom wins before adding another two to her haul this month.
If Shiffrin avoids injury, she will have another chance at her 100th win on Sunday in the slalom event. She has won the slalom at Killington in six of the seven years it has been held there.
The 29-year-old Shiffrin began the season needing three wins to reach the century mark on the World Cup circuit and set herself up to accomplish the feat on home snow with back-to-back slalom victories in Finland and Austria over the last two weeks.
She established herself as the most successful Alpine skier in World Cup history, male or female, when she topped retired Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark's decades-old record of 86 World Cup victories in March 2023.
The closest woman on the all-time list is Lindsey Vonn with 82.
