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Only two months after suffering a major injury in an accident at Killington, Vermont, American ski racer Mikaela Shiffrin is set to return to World Cup competition next week at Courchevel, France. Shiffrin, who is seeking her 100th World Cup victory, will be back in action on Jan. 30 after recovering from a puncture wound suffered on Nov. 30.

While pursuing her 100th win in Killington, Shiffrin had been approaching the finish line when she lost grip on her outside ski, hitting a gate and then flipping over before sliding into another gate and being stopped by protective fencing at the edge of the course. Shiffrin suffered a puncture wound into the right side of her abdomen and severe muscle trauma, but avoided far worse.

Speaking with The Associated Press, Shiffrin shared that whatever object stabbed her abdomen nearly penetrated her abdominal wall and colon. However, despite her wound involving three layers of muscle and intensive rehab to reactivate her core muscles, Shiffrin has recovered to the point where she will push through what is not a common injury for a skiier.

"It's going to be a little bit nerve-wracking, to be honest," Shiffrin told the AP. "These past six weeks, every step it's like, 'Geez, should this be hurting less? Should I be better at this? Should I be more tolerant of the pain?' There are so many questions that come up in your mind of basically whether or not you're doing well enough.

"But when we take a step back and look where we are now ... it's pretty exciting."

Only a month after the accident, and with the advice of training staffs from the Los Angeles Angels and Edmonton Oilers -- an unusual step, but one necessary given how similar the injury was to oblique injuries suffered by baseball and hockey players -- Shiffrin returned to skiing on Jan. 1, focusing first on ski-specific motions before returning to the slalom gates. 

Upon arriving in Europe, the plan is for Shiffrin to increase the intensity of her practice prior to Courchevel. Shiffrin currently does not plan to race in downhill events this season, but told the AP she is leaving the door open to occasionally race a super-G.