SAALBACH-HINTERGLEMM, Austria — Mikaela Shiffrin is not going to pair with Lindsey Vonn in a dream team at the Alpine skiing world championships.
Shiffrin announced on social media Tuesday that she needs more time for training as she regains her form from a deep puncture wound and won’t be entering the new team combined event at worlds.
Vonn, who returned to the circuit this season at age 40 after nearly six years of retirement, had been campaigning for a spot alongside Shiffrin in the event, which involves one squad member racing downhill and another racing slalom. The times of the two athletes on each team are added together to determine the results.
While Shiffrin returned last week and placed 10th in a slalom in Courchevel, France, after nearly two months out following a crash in Killington, Vermont, she said she is “continuing to take it one step at a time as I work to get back to 100%” and that “each day so far has come with a new set of challenges.”
“With that said, I need to keep my energy focused on preparing for the giant slalom and slalom races during world championships, and will not be able to participate in the team combined,” Shiffrin said on her social media accounts.
The women’s team combined event is scheduled for next Tuesday, two days before the women’s giant slalom and four days before the women’s slalom.
Shiffrin and Vonn are the winningest female racers in World Cup history with 99 victories for Shiffrin and 82 for Vonn. Vonn is the all-time leader in World Cup downhill victories with 43 and Shiffrin holds the mark in slalom with 62 — both records among men and women.
“I think it would be probably one of the coolest things in ski racing to have 181 World Cup victories on one team,” Vonn said Monday, before Shiffrin’s announcement. “I don’t see how that wouldn’t be incredible. I don’t know how she is physically; I haven’t talked to her because she just came back. So I don’t know if she’s even competing in the combined. But if there is a chance to compete with her, I would absolutely love to.”
Vonn could pair with Paula Moltzan instead. Both Vonn and Moltzan grew up skiing at Buck Hill in Minnesota, and Vonn was Moltzan’s hero.
“We’re from the same small town,” Vonn said. “That would be really cool to race with her. But I would be happy with any of my teammates to compete with.”
Vonn and Shiffrin could still team up in combined at next year’s Milan-Cortina Olympics. Thursday marks exactly one year before the Feb. 6, 2026, opening ceremony.
In a recent interview, Vonn told The Associated Press that the main goal of her return is to race in Cortina at the 2026 Games and that then she will retire again.
Vonn will race in the super-G and downhill at worlds on Thursday and Saturday.
