Aleksander Kilde made his return to the slopes after suffering a devastating injury that kept him out of the game for 685 days. His ever-loving fiancée, Mikaela Shiffrin, was present to support his emotional comeback, and his sister-in-law also joined in, especially touched by the moment they shared at the finish line.
About 22 months ago, Kilde suffered a devastating crash in Wengen, which left him with major injuries in his right leg and left shoulder. After undergoing a string of operations and medical procedures, he finally returned to the game at Copper Mountain.
Aleksander Kilde’s Sister-in-Law Reacts To Emotional Moment Between Kilde & Mikaela Shiffrin
Kilde made his comeback on the first day of World Cup racing at the Copper Cup. His fiancée, Shiffrin, patiently waited at the finish-line team area, cheering on as her partner made his way down the slopes.
The Stifel U.S. Ski Team shared a video of the emotional moment on Instagram. Shiffrin could be seen tearing up while witnessing Kilde’s comeback. She was also captured clapping, cheering, and jumping up and down in excitement, and when Kilde made it past the finish line, the two shared a tight hug as they soaked in the moment.
Kilde’s sister-in-law, Savannah Kilde, was touched by the heartwarming moment. She reacted to it by leaving a comment under the video that simply read, “❤️🥹”
At the end of the day, the 33-year-old alpine ski racer completed the 531-meter super-G course in 1 minute, 8.95 seconds. He landed in 24th place, in a tie with Ski and Snowboard Club Vail alumnus Kyle Negomir.
‘I Feel Strong’ – Aleksander Kilde After His Highly Anticipated Comeback
After the race, Kilde opened up about how he felt, revealing that he was pleased to be able to return to the game once more. He shared that his shoulder wasn’t an issue for him and admitted that while he still needs to put in more effort to handle more challenging steeps, he was just glad to be back.
“I feel surprisingly good right now. After crossing the finish line, of course, I was breathing. We’re at 3,000 meters, but I feel strong. I could handle difficulties. I could push. Shoulder was not even a question when I was skiing,” he said.
“That you can see at the bottom, that’s where I lost most of the time. But in general, I felt great. Just super happy,” he added.
The athlete also spoke lovingly about Shiffrin, noting that they had both gone through difficult moments together as well as the happy ones.