Mikaela Shiffrin crashes in pursuit of 100th World Cup win

KILLINGTON, Vt. â€”  American ski racer Mikaela Shiffrin was alert and being evaluated for injuries after crashing in her second run of a World Cup giant slalom race Saturday, doing a flip and sliding into the protective fencing.

Shiffrin stayed down on the edge of the course for quite some time as the ski patrol attended to her. She was taken off the hill on a sled and waved to the cheering crowd. The U.S. Ski Team said she was taken to a medical clinic for evaluation.

The 29-year-old Shiffrin was leading after the first run of the giant slalom and charging after her 100th World Cup win. She was within sight of the finish line, five gates onto Killington’s steep finish pitch, when she lost the grip on her outside ski. She hit a gate and did a somersault before sliding into another gate. The fencing slowed her momentum as she came to an abrupt stop.

Reigning Olympic giant slalom champion Sara Hector of Sweden won in a combined time of 1 minute, 53.08 seconds. But her thoughts were instead with Shiffrin.

“It’s just so sad, of course, to see Mikaela crash like that and skiing so well,� Hector said on the broadcast after her victory. “It breaks my heart and everybody else here.�

The crash was a surprise, given that Shiffrin rarely records a “DNF� — did not finish. In 275 World Cup starts, she has recorded a DNF only 19 times. The last time she did not finish in GS was January 2018.

Saturday was shaping up to be a banner day for Shiffrin, who skied flawlessly in her first run and held a 0.32-second lead as she chased after her 100th World Cup win in front of a home crowd. Shiffrin grew up in both New Hampshire and Colorado, and sharpened her skills at nearby Burke Mountain Academy.

Shiffrin is driven not so much by wins but by making the perfect run. She has shattered many records along the way. She passed Lindsey Vonn’s women’s mark of 82 World Cup victories on Jan. 24, 2023, during a giant slalom in Kronplatz, Italy.

Nearly two months later, Shiffrin broke Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark’s Alpine mark for the most World Cup wins when she captured her 87th career race.

To date, she has earned five overall World Cup titles, two Olympic gold medals — along with a silver — and seven world championships.

Shiffrin’s signature event, the slalom, will be held Sunday. She has won six of the seven slalom races she’s entered at Killington.

Meanwhile, fans hoping to see the world’s top female skiers compete next week in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, are out of luck. That World Cup stop was canceled Saturday because the weather has not been cold enough to produce the necessary snow.