Alpine skiing-Shiffrin fifth after opening Courchevel run in return from injury

Jan 30 (Reuters) - Mikaela Shiffrin resumed her quest for a milestone 100th World Cup win on Thursday in Courchevel, France where she was in fifth place following the opening run of the slalom event two months after a ski crash left her with a puncture wound in her abdomen.

Shiffrin, who acknowledged ahead of her first start since the injury that she was prioritising her recovery over chasing a record-extending World Cup win, did her best to shake off the rust but was not her usual aggressive self during her first run.

The 29-year-old American was the sixth of 65 skiers out of the start gate and finished in 52.75 seconds, which left her in fifth place, where she remained after a first run where 21 skiers failed to reach the finish area.

"This is a step. This is a really big step in my recovery. But it's only one step, actually," Shiffrin said ahead of this week's race.

"We're taking it as it comes. My biggest goal is to enjoy being back in the start gate again."

Croatia's Zrinka Ljutic finished her opening run in 51.88 seconds to open a 0.19-second advantage over Wendy Holdener of Switzerland. Austria's Katharina Liensberger was third and trails by 0.68 seconds.

Shiffrin began the season needing three wins to reach the century mark on the World Cup circuit and set herself up to accomplish the feat on home snow with back-to-back slalom victories in Finland and Austria last November.

She then looked to be heading for victory in Killington, Vermont later that month but, with the finish line in sight, caught an edge that sent one ski flying as she tumbled and crashed into the safety netting before leaving the hill on a rescue sled.

The twice Olympic gold medallist suffered an abdominal puncture and severe muscle trauma in the crash and two weeks later had surgery to clean out the wound.

Shiffrin established herself as the most successful Alpine skier in World Cup history, male or female, when she topped retired Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark's decades-old record of 86 World Cup victories in March 2023.

The closest woman on the all-time list is Lindsey Vonn with 82.