By George Ramsay, CNN
(CNN) — Mikaela Shiffrin made her return to competitive skiing after sustaining a serious injury two months ago, finishing 10th in the World Cup slalom event in Courchevel.
The American star suffered a puncture wound to her abdomen and severe muscle trauma when she crashed out at the Stifel Killington Cup in Vermont on November 30, putting on hold her pursuit of a landmark 100th World Cup win.
But she said that her performance in the French resort of Courchevel on Thursday felt positive, particularly with the world championships on the horizon.
“It was a very important step in my recovery to see how I’m stacking up with the top skiers in the world and to see what I can work on to improve my skiing,” Shiffrin told Eurosport after the race.
The 29-year-old finished with a time of 1:47.10 across her two runs, 2.04 seconds behind the eventual winner, Zrinka Ljutić of Croatia.
Ljutić was 1.26 seconds ahead of Sweden’s Sara Hector in second and 1.28 seconds ahead of Germany’s Lena Dürr in third.
Shiffrin is still well-placed to win a record-extending 100th World Cup event this season, which would put her 14 wins ahead of any other skier, male or female, in history. But she said that her focus now is on the upcoming world championships, which take place in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria next month.
“Before world championships, it was so important to get this start,” said Shiffrin, adding: “For sure, I want to get the GS (giant slalom) and slalom (at the world championships) and everything really depends on the next 10 days until those races, how it goes with training.
“We have a really good plan to get some days on snow and I’m catching up to the fastest in the world. I have a lot of work to do, but I’m happy to be here and look forward to trying that.”
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