Mikaela Shiffrin Skips Downhill This Season

American ski star Mikaela Shiffrin will not participate in downhill races during the 2024-2025 Alpine Ski World Cup season as she aims for her 100th career win. Shiffrin, who holds a record of 97 World Cup victories, decided to eliminate the downhill discipline following a severe crash in January 2023, which kept her off competition for six weeks and cost her a sixth overall title. The decision was influenced by the demanding nature of downhill training and Shiffrin's focus on other disciplines like slalom, giant slalom, and super-G. Shiffrin's representative, Megan Harrod, emphasized that the time required for downhill training is substantial, making it challenging to excel across all events. Despite the setback from her injury, Shiffrin remains motivated and looks forward to the upcoming season, which starts on October 26 in Soelden, Austria, and includes the World Championships in February. While Shiffrin briefly considered retiring, she remains open to revisiting downhill racing in the future.