CNN
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Mikaela Shiffrin’s bid to win her 100th World Cup race victory took a hit on Saturday, after the 29-year-old crashed out of the giant slalom during this weekend’s Stifel Killington Cup in Vermont.
The American, already the most successful alpine skier of all time, had taken the lead after her first run, before suffering the accident during her second attempt.
Everything looked to be going well, before Shiffrin slipped and went crashing into the security fence by the side of the slope.
Shiffrin did not immediately stand up, and appeared to be in some discomfort and was taken off the slope on a sled. On social media, US Ski and Snowboard said Shiffrin was “currently being evaluated.”
The US organizing body also added it took “solace in the fact that she asked about her splits.”
If she’s fit enough, Shiffrin would have another chance to reach her century in Sunday’s slalom event.
The decisive run for Sunday’s slalom will be aired live in the US on NBC Sports and Peacock.
The second run will begin at 1 p.m. ET.
After winning her 99th World Cup race in Austria last week, Shiffrin said reaching 100 World Cup wins wasn’t “impossible.”
“I think, from the outside, it looks easy or it looks like it’s supposed to happen this way, but even today took so much energy to bring out my top skiing,” she added.
“So it’s not easy, and everybody’s pushing and catching up. And so I’m not taking that for granted.”
Becoming the first alpine skier to reach a century of World Cup wins would be the perfect way to end a year which started in difficult circumstances for Shiffrin.
In January, she suffered a high-speed crash during a downhill event in Italy, resulting in six-weeks away from the sport.
She was left with sprained knee ligaments, but Shiffrin previously told CNN Sport she was lucky to escape the incident with minimal damage given the impact the accident inflicted on her body.
“It could have gone a million different ways, but man, I’m thankful that this is the way it went,” she said.
As misfortune would have it, Shiffrin’s partner Aleksander Aamodt Kilde also suffered a serious incident on the slopes just a few weeks before her own accident.
The Norwegian skier was involved in a horror crash during a World Cup downhill race in Switzerland, resulting in the two-time Olympic medalist suffering a dislocated shoulder, two torn shoulder ligaments and a gnarly laceration on his calf that needed urgent surgery due to nerve damage.
The pair supported each other with their respective rehabilitations but, in truth, Kilde still has a long way to go before thinking about a return to the sport.
In October, he announced on Instagram that he would not be racing this season because he needs to undergo another shoulder surgery after suffering from an infection.
Shiffrin, though, now has the chance to make yet more history in her remarkable career.
She will also get the chance to do so in front of a home audience – Shiffrin went to school in Vermont.
“I guess there’s a bit of pressure around it, but I’ll try to ignore that,” she said, per Reuters.
“If it happens, it’s wonderful; if it doesn’t happen, nothing to cry about in the grand scheme. But I hope to have a really good performance in front of the home crowd.”
