Paris (AFP)

Three-time Alpine Ski World Cup winner Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States (2017, 2018, 2019) will miss the season opening giant slalom in Sölden (Austria) in one week due to injury on the back, she announced Friday on social networks.

"After injuring my back while skiing last week, I was advised to give up Sölden, so my back could heal and I could run the rest of the season," said the two-time Olympic champion. (slalom in 2014 and giant slalom in 2018) on his Instagram account.

The Alpine Skiing World Cup kicks off on October 17 with the traditional giant slalom in Sölden, on the Rettenbach Glacier in Austrian Tyrol.

"Having started in Sölden for the past eight years, this situation is ... frustrating and strange (for lack of better words). Fortunately, this injury will heal and I will be at the start soon (and I can't wait)," added the 25-year-old American.

Shiffrin, who has 66 World Cup victories, has not started a race since her super-G victory in Bansko (Bulgaria) on January 26, 2020. She gave up the following races after the sudden death of her father Jeff in early February.

His return was initially scheduled for the last races of the 2020 season in mid-March in Are in Sweden, but the Covid-19 pandemic had put an early end to the World Cup, with the coronation of the Italian Federica Brignone.

After Sölden, the skiers will head to Lech / Zürs, in western Austria, for a parallel slalom scheduled for night on November 13, and two slaloms in Levi in ​​Finland on November 21 and 22.

© 2020 AFP