On an Instagram post made on 10 February 2024 Mikaela Shiffrin announced-
“No World Champs GS for me. 😣💆♀️
I’ve poured all of my energy into getting my giant slalom in shape to be prepared to start World Champs GS in Saalbach on Thursday. The long-story-short is…I’m not there. Right now, I feel quite far away. I’m currently working through some mental obstacles in order to return to the GS start with the intensity required for racing.
Honestly, I really didn’t anticipate experiencing so much of this kind of mental/PTSD struggle in GS from my injury in Killington. Like always, I tried diving into the challenge, hoping to get there by Worlds. I figured my passion and longing to compete would outweigh the mental barriers. Maybe that will be the case over time, but I’m not there yet. Coming to terms with how much fear I have doing an event that I loved so dearly only 2 months ago has been soul-crushing.
One of my teammates—who knows this experience well—said that the only thing you can do is keep trying. So that’s what I will do.
Since we have now realized that the GS is not in the cards just yet, that re-opens up the opportunity for me to join my teammates in the Team Combined. I’d feel lucky and grateful to partner with any of my incredible Speed teammates—and our coaches have now informed us that Breezy and I will paired together for the event.🥹
