Mikaela Shiffrin of the U.S. celebrates with a crown after winning the Women's Slalom REUTERS/Borut Zivulovic
Saalbach, Austria: Mikaela Shiffrin said Monday she will not defend her giant slalom title at the World Ski Championships because of crash-induced post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but the US star will race with newly-crowned downhill champion Breezy Johnson in the women's team combined on Tuesday.
Shiffrin is making her comeback from an injury in Killington in November that left her with an abdominal puncture wound.
Johnson claimed a shock gold in Saturday's downhill just weeks after her own comeback from a 14-month suspension for three anti-doping whereabouts failures.
"After becoming world champion in downhill on Saturday, Breezy told me 'If you want to do the TC, I would be honoured to pair with you. Not because of the medal, but because this sport is crazy fun, and it would be fun to bring it full circle after all these years'," Shiffrin said.
"Breezy and I have been racing together since we were 11.
"We've been roommates, competitors, friends. And she's right... it will be so cool to bring this full circle."
Shiffrin initially said she would not take part in the women's team combined, a new event that will also feature in next year's Winter Olympics in Milan/Cortina d'Ampezzo.
The event sees two athletes racing one run of downhill and one run of slalom. The combined time will determine the winner.
