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Mikaela Shiffrin’s physical therapist describes phenom’s recovery from major injury
Regan Dewhirst travels the world as the physical therapist to alpine ski racing star Mikaela Shiffrin, who is competing at the Winter Olympics following her recovery from a major injury
LAST YEAR THAT THIS WOULD BE HER LAST OLYMPIC GAMES. THESE OLYMPIC GAMES REPRESENT AN IMPRESSIVE COMEBACK FOR ONE OF THE BIGGEST STARS OF TEAM USA. THAT’S ALPINE SKIER MIKAELA SHIFFRIN, WHO WAS BADLY INJURED IN A WORLD CUP RACE IN KILLINGTON IN 2024, AN EVENT MANY PEOPLE HOPED WOULD SEE SHIFFRIN’S 100TH CAREER VICTORY. A CRASH INTO A SLALOM GATE CAUSED A FREAK WOUND TO HER RIGHT ABDOMEN. SHE WAS ESSENTIALLY STABBED BY THE GATE. SHIFFRIN NEEDED SURGERY AND MONTHS OF RECOVERY, BUT SHE CAME BACK TO HAVE A VERY STRONG SEASON, EVENTUALLY GETTING THAT 100TH WORLD CUP WIN IN ITALY. RETURNING TO HER FOURTH OLYMPIC GAMES. AND A LOCAL WOMAN HAS BEEN BY SHIFFRIN SIDE THROUGHOUT THIS ALL. REAGAN DEWHURST IS A UVM GRAD AND FORMER COLLEGE SOCCER PLAYER WHO STILL LIVES IN THE BURLINGTON AREA. SHE WORKS AS THE LEAD PHYSICAL THERAPIST FOR SHIFFRIN, TRAVELING THE WORLD WITH THE U.S. SKI TEAM TO BE THERE FOR ALL THE ATHLETES COMPETITIONS. JACK THURSTON CAUGHT UP WITH DEWHURST TO TALK ABOUT THE WORK SHIFFRIN PUT IN TO RETURNING AFTER THAT NASTY CRASH. THERE WAS A LOT OF HYPE OVER WIN NUMBER 100. SHE SKIED GREAT IN THE FIRST RUN AND IT KIND OF LOOKED LIKE IT WAS MAYBE GOING TO HAPPEN AT HOME. AND ON THE FINAL PITCH, AS SHE WAS COMING INTO THE FINISH, SHE WAS SHE WAS IN THE GREEN THE WHOLE RUN. AND ALL OF A SUDDEN THIS DNF CAME ACROSS THE BOARD. I WASN’T WATCHING THE TV. I KIND OF PACKED UP MY BAG AND I, I HAD IT ON LIVE TIMING AND I SAW THE DNF AND I WAS LIKE, WELL, SHE’S BEEN PUSHING THE LIMITS ALL WEEK. LIKE MAYBE SHE JUST SKIED OUT. AND THEN THERE WAS JUST NOBODY WAS MOVING. NOBODY WAS TALKING. NOTHING CAME OVER THE RADIO. AND FINALLY I SAID TO ONE OF OUR COACHES, I WAS LIKE, DOES SOMEBODY HAVE EYES ON HER? AND THEY SAID, YEAH, LIKE, GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW. THIS IS THIS IS NOT GOOD. AND BY THE TIME I GOT DOWN THERE, HER FACE WAS GREEN. I MEAN, YOU KNEW YOU DIDN’T KNOW WHAT IT WAS YET, BUT YOU KNEW THAT WHATEVER IT WAS GOING TO BE, IT WAS IT WAS NOT GOOD. AND IT WAS GOING TO BE A LONG REHAB. AND AT THAT POINT, I DON’T THINK ANYONE EXPECTED THAT SHE WOULD COME BACK AS QUICKLY AS SHE DID. AND AT THE LEVEL THAT SHE HAS, SHE HAS HAD A PHENOMENAL, PHENOMENAL SEASON. YEAH, I MEAN, THAT’S A TESTAMENT TO HER HARD WORK. AND I THINK HER PRECISION AND SORT OF METHODICAL THINKING, IT WAS DEFINITELY A PROCESS. AND I THINK THE FIRST THING THAT EVERYBODY ASKS, WE WERE IN THE AIR AND PEOPLE WERE LIKE, WHEN DO YOU THINK SHE CAN COME BACK? WHEN IS 100 GOING TO HAPPEN? AND WE REALLY HAD TO KIND OF BREAK IT DOWN AND FIGURE OUT WHAT ACTUALLY SHE INJURED, HOW BADLY SHE INJURED IT. AND THEN ONCE WE SORT OF FIGURED THAT OUT WITH THE DOCTORS, THEN WE WERE ABLE TO KIND OF COME UP WITH A PLAN. SHE PUT 110% IN EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THAT REHAB, AND THAT’S REALLY WHAT MADE IT HAPPEN SO QUICKLY. AND SHE DOCUMENTED THAT PROCESS ON HER YOUTUBE CHANNEL. IT WAS REALLY HARD WORK FOR HER. AS SOON AS I WAS ABLE TO START MOVING AGAIN, THAT WAS THAT WAS AWESOME. I JUST FELT LIKE FIRE WAS LIGHTING UP AND I WAS LIKE, AS SOON AS I CAN START DOING INTERVALS, I’M DOING INTERVALS. AND I WAS DOING THE CARDIO AND I WAS DOING THE STRENGTH WORK THAT I COULD DO, AND LEG STRENGTH AND, AND ANY KIND OF CORE I COULD DO AND, AND THE BALANCE TRAINING AND JUST EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF IT. AND REAGAN WAS JUST, WE WERE JUST FEEDING OFF OF EACH OTHER AND JUST GOING FOR IT. AND THEN AFTER A SEVERAL WEEKS OF THAT, I TOTALLY TANKED. AND I WAS EXHAUSTED. IT WAS HARD WORK. IT WAS PROBABLY TEN HOUR DAYS. MOST DAYS BETWEEN POOL WORK, RECOVERY WORK, CORE SPECIFIC CORE WORK, GENERAL CONDITIONING WITH THE THINGS THAT SHE COULD GET AWAY WITH. IT WAS IT WAS HARD WORK FOR SURE. THERE ARE A LOT OF PHYSICAL THERAPISTS IN THE WORLD, BUT VERY FEW WHO WORK WITH ONE AT A TIME. ELITE ATHLETE. THIS IS A VERY, VERY SPECIALIZED FIELD. YOU’RE IN. IT SURE IS. IT’S I’VE STARTED TO THINK OF IT MORE AS A FACILITATOR. I THINK THE PT WORK HAPPENS EVERY DAY. WE TYPICALLY DO A SESSION BEFORE TRAINING IN THE MORNINGS JUST TO KIND OF GET HER MOVING AND ACTIVATED AND MAKING SURE THAT SHE’S NOT KIND OF COMPENSATING BEFORE SHE GOES OUT. AND THEN WE’LL DO A SESSION IN THE AFTERNOONS, WHICH IS USUALLY SOME FORM OF CORE WORK OR LIGHT STRENGTH WORK. AND THEN THAT’S FOLLOWED BY MORE OF LIKE YOUR TYPICAL MASSAGE RECOVERY, ADDRESSING ANY SORT OF STIFFNESS OR MOVEMENT ASYMMETRIES THAT KIND OF CROPPED UP DURING THE DAY. BUT THE REST OF IT IS REALLY LISTENING TO HER AND SORT OF SEEING WHERE SHE’S AT AND THEN COMMUNICATING THAT TO THE REST OF THE TEAM. SO I THINK MY JOB IS A LOT MORE OF GETTING EVERYBODY ALIGNED. ON WHERE HER ENERGY IS AND HOW WE CAN MODIFY AND HOW WE CAN OPTIMIZE THINGS, THAN JUST THE TECHNICAL WORK. TRY TO PUT ASIDE FOR ME THE PHYSICAL THERAPY PART OF YOUR LIFE, THE FACILITATOR PART OF YOUR LIFE, AND JUST TALK ABOUT MIKAELA. AS AN ATHLETE, YOU HAVE A FRONT ROW SEAT TO SOME TRULY, TRULY IMPRESSIVE ATHLETICISM. SHE’S A PHENOM, SHE’S A PHENOM. AND NOT ONLY IN SKIING YOU SHOULD SEE HER PLAY TENNIS AND GOLF AND SURF LIKE EVERYTHING SHE DOES. SHE LEARNS VERY QUICKLY. SHE STUDIES IT. SHE CAN WATCH MOVEMENT PATTERNS BETTER THAN ALMOST ANYBODY I KNOW. AND THEN SHE SHE’S METHODICAL. SHE’LL START WITH A VERY EASY SECTION. ONCE THAT FEELS OKAY, SHE’LL BUILD OUT TO THE NEXT SECTION. ONCE THAT FEELS OKAY, SHE’LL BUILD OUT A LITTLE BIT MORE AND SHE KIND OF JUST BUILDS HER CONFIDENCE AND PUSHES THE LIMIT IN A VERY SYSTEMATIC WAY. YOU DESCRIBED SOME OF THE HOPES OR EXPECTATIONS AROUND WIN NUMBER 100 HAPPENING AT KILLINGTON. IT’S A REMINDER OF HOW MUCH PRESSURE IS ON THESE ATHLETES GOING INTO THE OLYMPICS. THE PRESSURE’S ONLY RAMPED UP. WHAT ARE YOU TWO TALKING ABOUT IN TERMS OF JUST GOING OUT THERE AND DOING WHAT SHE DOES BEST AND HAVING FUN AND MAYBE TRYING TO DIAL BACK THE PRESSURE A BIT? YEAH, I THINK IT’S VERY EASY. I THINK THE MORE SUCCESS THAT SHE HAS, THE MORE EXPECTATION THERE IS FOR HER TO JUST BE ABLE TO REPEAT THAT AGAIN. I THINK WE TALK A LOT ABOUT KIND OF ALL OF THE EXTERNAL FACTORS THAT GO INTO A SUCCESSFUL DAY, AND HOW MANY OF THOSE FACTORS ARE ACTUALLY OUTSIDE OF HER CONTROL. SO ESPECIALLY AFTER THE INJURY LAST YEAR, I THINK SHE’S GOTTEN EVEN BETTER ABOUT STAYING KIND OF PROCESS ORIENTED. AND FORGETTING ABOUT THE RESULTS. TO SOME EXTENT. I THINK THE INJURY, BECAUSE IT WAS AN 8 TO 12 WEEK PLAN, SHE BASICALLY HAD TO STAY IN THE MOMENT AND KIND OF TAKE EACH DAY AS IT CAME. AND I THINK SHE’S BEEN ABLE TO SORT OF BRING THAT MINDSET INTO THIS YEAR WHERE WE BASICALLY JUST SAY LIKE, OKAY, LET’S MAXIMIZE THE DAY. WHAT CAN YOU CAN CONTROL? HOW MUCH EFFORT CAN YOU PUT INTO THIS? AND IF YOU’RE DOING ALL OF THESE THINGS THAT MEET YOUR VALUES, THEN THE REST IS GOING TO SHAKE OUT. SO KIND OF WORKING TO TRUST THE PROCESS WITH HER AND SORT OF ENJOY THE PROCESS AS WE DO IT. I’M IN THE STARTING GATE WITH HER. WHEN YOU HEAR THE VOICE SCREAMING AT HER TO GET OUT OF THE GATE, THAT’S ME. THERE MUST BE SOME INTERESTING CONVERSATIONS IN THE STARTING GATE. WE TRY TO KEEP IT LIGHT. YOU CAN KIND OF TELL SOME DAYS SHE’S VERY NERVOUS AND DOESN’T WANT TO TALK AT ALL. AND OTHER DAYS WE CAN KIND OF. I CAN GOOF AROUND WITH HER A LITTLE BIT AND GET A SMILE OUT OF HER. YEAH, I’M UP THERE WITH HER. THIS CONVERSATION ILLUSTRATES HOW LARGE OF A TEAM IS AROUND AN ATHLETE. WHO ARE SOME OF THE OTHER, MAYBE UNSUNG, HEROES OF TEAM USA? IF WE GO ALL THE WAY TO PARK CITY, YOU HAVE THE ENTIRE MEDICAL STAFF BACK THERE, YOU HAVE THE SPORTS STAFF, YOU HAVE THE DATA SCIENTISTS THAT ARE KIND OF LOOKING AT LOAD AND HOW TO MANAGE THE LOAD THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE. THEN YOU HAVE THE IMMEDIATE SPORT COACHES. SO ON OUR TEAM, MIKAELA HAS OUR HEAD COACH KAREN HARJO, ASSISTANT COACH. YAMO HALA AND HER MOM. THEN WE HAVE TWO SKI TECHS WHO MANAGE EVERYTHING IN THE EQUIPMENT REALM. THEN WE HAVE A STRENGTH COACH AND SHE HAS HER PSYCHOLOGIST, A NUTRITIONIST. SO YOU HAVE ALL THESE PEOPLE, WE TALK ABOUT A BEACH BALL AND YOU HAVE EVERYBODY IS A DIFFERENT COLOR ON THE BEACH BALL. AND WE KIND OF TALK ABOUT GETTING THE COLORS OF THE BEACH BALL TO ACTUALLY ALIGN. AND SOMETIMES, SOMETIMES ALL OF OUR NEEDS AND MOTIVES ARE CONFLICTING A LITTLE BIT. BUT ULTIMATELY WE HAVE THESE DISCUSSIONS AND WE KIND OF BRING OUR OPINIONS TOGETHER, AND WE’RE TRYING TO GET EVERYBODY TO PULL IN THE SAME DIRECTION. AND ALL THOSE COLORS ON THE BEACH BALL DO ALIGN. THAT’S WHEN WE SEE A PODIUM FINISH OR A MEDAL. YEAH. AN EXAMPLE OF THAT IS SORT OF A LOT OF TIMES I’M LIKE, I CAN TELL THAT SHE’S TANKED OR HER MUSCLES ARE SO SORE SHE’S NOT REALLY COORDINATED. BUT THE COACHES KNOW THAT SHE’S THIS CLOSE TO KIND OF GETTING A TECHNICAL SKILL THAT MIGHT PUSH HER TO THE NEXT LEVEL OR THE THE TECHS NEED HER TO TRY A CERTAIN NUMBER OF SKIS. SO IT’S IT’S LIKE WE’RE ALL LOOKING AT KIND OF WHAT SHE NEEDS FROM A DIFFERENT ANGLE AND ULTIMATELY WANTING HER TO PERFORM AT HER BEST. PLEASE TELL HER THAT HER FANS AT NBC5 IN BURLINGTON AND PLATTSBURGH ARE ROOTING FOR HER. I WILL DO THAT. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I LOVE THAT BEA
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Mikaela Shiffrin’s physical therapist describes phenom’s recovery from major injury
Regan Dewhirst travels the world as the physical therapist to alpine ski racing star Mikaela Shiffrin, who is competing at the Winter Olympics following her recovery from a major injury
Ski star Mikaela Shiffrin won gold in the slalom on Wednesday at the Milan-Cortina Olympics, days after placing 11th in the giant slalom on Sunday. Her slalom triumph at the Olympics caps an impressive comeback from a serious injury suffered in Killington in Nov. 2024. Throughout that recovery, Shiffrin’s Vermont-based physical therapist, Regan Dewhirst, has been by her side helping her methodically and successfully climb back to an impressive World Cup season ahead of the Winter Olympics.”It was probably ten-hour days most days between pool work, recovery work, specific core work, and general conditioning with the things that she could get away with,” Dewhirst said of Shiffrin’s workout regimen during her recovery. “It was hard work, for sure.”Shiffrin crashed into a slalom gate in 2024 in Vermont, causing a freak wound to her right abdomen. She was essentially stabbed by the gate and needed surgery ahead of months of recovery. Dewhirst lives in the Burlington area and travels the world with the U.S. Ski Team to be with Shiffrin for all her competitions. Sister station WPTZ spoke with Dewhirst about her work with the elite ski racer. “I’ve started to think of it more as a facilitator,” Dewhirst said of her role. “The PT work happens every day. We typically do a session before training in the mornings just to kind of get her moving and activated and making sure that she’s not kind of compensating before she goes out. And then we’ll do a session in the afternoons, which is usually some form of core work or light strength work. And then that’s followed by more of your typical massage recovery, addressing any sort of stiffness or movement asymmetries that kind of cropped up during the day. But the rest of it is really listening to her and sort of seeing where she’s at and then communicating that to the rest of the team. I think my job is a lot more of getting everybody aligned on where her energy is and how we can modify and how we can optimize things than just the technical work.”Shiffrin described her work with Dewhirst in a video from her series “Moving Right Along” posted to her YouTube channel. Dewhirst said in the WPTZ interview that she has a profound admiration for Shiffrin’s work ethic and athleticism that was critical to her return to the top of the ski racing world. “She’s a phenom,” Dewhirst said. “And not only in skiing. You should see her play tennis and golf and surf. Everything she does, she learns very quickly. She studies it, she can watch movement patterns better than almost anybody I know. And then she’s methodical. She’ll start with a very easy section. Once that feels okay, she’ll build out to the next section. Once that feels okay, she’ll build out a little bit more, and she kind of just builds her confidence and pushes the limit in a very systematic way.” Paula Moltzan, Shiffrin’s teammate and a resident of Vermont’s Mad River Valley, placed fourth in Wednesday’s slalom results. Moltzan was just behind competitors from Switzerland and Sweden in the hunt for an Olympic medal.
Ski star Mikaela Shiffrin won gold in the slalom on Wednesday at the Milan-Cortina Olympics, days after placing 11th in the giant slalom on Sunday. Her slalom triumph at the Olympics caps an impressive comeback from a serious injury suffered in Killington in Nov. 2024.
Throughout that recovery, Shiffrin’s Vermont-based physical therapist, Regan Dewhirst, has been by her side helping her methodically and successfully climb back to an impressive World Cup season ahead of the Winter Olympics.
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“It was probably ten-hour days most days between pool work, recovery work, specific core work, and general conditioning with the things that she could get away with,” Dewhirst said of Shiffrin’s workout regimen during her recovery. “It was hard work, for sure.”
Shiffrin crashed into a slalom gate in 2024 in Vermont, causing a freak wound to her right abdomen. She was essentially stabbed by the gate and needed surgery ahead of months of recovery. Dewhirst lives in the Burlington area and travels the world with the U.S. Ski Team to be with Shiffrin for all her competitions. Sister station WPTZ spoke with Dewhirst about her work with the elite ski racer.
“I’ve started to think of it more as a facilitator,” Dewhirst said of her role. “The PT work happens every day. We typically do a session before training in the mornings just to kind of get her moving and activated and making sure that she’s not kind of compensating before she goes out. And then we’ll do a session in the afternoons, which is usually some form of core work or light strength work. And then that’s followed by more of your typical massage recovery, addressing any sort of stiffness or movement asymmetries that kind of cropped up during the day. But the rest of it is really listening to her and sort of seeing where she’s at and then communicating that to the rest of the team. I think my job is a lot more of getting everybody aligned on where her energy is and how we can modify and how we can optimize things than just the technical work.”
Shiffrin described her work with Dewhirst in a video from her series “Moving Right Along” posted to her YouTube channel. Dewhirst said in the WPTZ interview that she has a profound admiration for Shiffrin’s work ethic and athleticism that was critical to her return to the top of the ski racing world.
“She’s a phenom,” Dewhirst said. “And not only in skiing. You should see her play tennis and golf and surf. Everything she does, she learns very quickly. She studies it, she can watch movement patterns better than almost anybody I know. And then she’s methodical. She’ll start with a very easy section. Once that feels okay, she’ll build out to the next section. Once that feels okay, she’ll build out a little bit more, and she kind of just builds her confidence and pushes the limit in a very systematic way.”
Paula Moltzan, Shiffrin’s teammate and a resident of Vermont’s Mad River Valley, placed fourth in Wednesday’s slalom results. Moltzan was just behind competitors from Switzerland and Sweden in the hunt for an Olympic medal.
