Mikaela Shiffrin is back in the gym and aiming to be on snow “in the next week or so,” the American skiing star said more than a month after suffering a deep puncture wound in her hip area.
The serious injury occurred during a during a crash on Nov. 30 in Killington, Vermont. Shiffrin was nearing the finish of her second run of the giant slalom, chasing a record-extending 100th World Cup win, when she lost an edge and slid into a gate, flipping head over skis.
Shiffrin underwent abdominal surgery in mid-December to clean out the puncture wound.
“Making progress over here…I can move and sweat and use my body which is so exciting!” Shiffrin said on Instagram late Wednesday. “This next phase of recovery is all about getting my strength and conditioning back as much as possible while working within the limitations of my obliques. Long hours of gym/rehab time but it´s coming along and I´m so happy with that. Hoping to work into some easy turns on snow in the next week or so.
“There´s a little ways to go before I´m ready to truly ski with intensity-from a pain and a fitness perspective-but I am psyched with where we´re at now,” she added.
It remains unclear when the two-time Olympic champion might return to the World Cup circuit, or if Shiffrin will be back in time for the world championships in Saalbach, Austria, in February.