Mikaela Shiffrin to return to competition after downhill crash

Mikaela Shiffrin's return from her downhill fall is still expected this weekend in Sweden, although the American may only take part in one of the two World Cup races in the resort of Are.

“Mikaela is improving in slalom and feels that slalom racing is still realistic, but the GS [giant slalom] is in question,” Shiffrin's team said in a statement Monday. “We will share more in the coming days.”

The weekend's action begins with a giant slalom on Saturday and is followed by a slalom on Sunday.

Shiffrin, who has a record 95 World Cup victories, has been sidelined since spraining the MCL and tibiofibular ligament in her left knee in a downhill fall in Cortina d'Ampezzo, England. Italy, in January. She was also still recovering from a bone bruise she suffered early in the season.

During his absence, Shiffrin lost the lead in the general classification. She now occupies third place with 1,209 points, behind Lara Gut-Behrami (1,594) and Federica Brignone (1,268).

In the giant slalom rankings, Shiffrin was mathematically eliminated from the competition for the small crystal globe. She is fourth, 256 points behind Gut-Behrami, who is also at the top of this ranking. Including the Are race, there are two GS events remaining this season. Winnings are worth 100 points each.

Shiffrin still leads the slalom standings with 630 points, ahead of Petra Vlhova (505) and Lena Duerr (442). But with Vlhova out for the season after tearing ligaments in her right knee in January, Duerr is the only skier still mathematically capable of overtaking Shiffrin.

Shiffrin only needs 12 points to win the slalom globe, so 19th place would be enough. Or Duerr not winning would also give the title to Shiffrin.

After Are, there are only two race weekends left this season: a technical race weekend and a sprint race weekend at the finale in Saalbach, Austria.