World Cup women’s slalom leader Mikaela Shiffrin was forced to skip today’s GS in Are, Sweden, after suffering an injury to her right knee sustained in a crash while freeskiing on the race slope during warmup. Now the U.S. Ski Team tech ace who recently expanded her competitive repertoire into speed at the Lake Louise super G will head home to the U.S. for further evaluation of what doctors initially believe is an MCL injury and bone bruise.

“I am flying home tomorrow for a complete evaluation,” Shiffrin posted to her Facebook page. “I have at least (an) MCL injury and bone bruising, hopefully no additional injury. Full diagnosis and recovery predictions after (I) see a doctor at home.”

The limited early diagnosis makes Shiffrin a scratch in Sunday’s slalom at Are and pulls her out of the Val d’Isere combined that she was hoping to contest on Dec. 18 in France. It also makes a return in time for the post-Christmas technical races in Lienz, Austria, on Dec. 28-29 highly questionable. The injury, in its reported extent at this point, should likely hold her out of competition for weeks but not months barring any complicating details.

Source: fis-ski.com