April 5 (UPI) — Team USA star Mikaela Shiffrin is now engaged to longtime boyfriend — and fellow Olympic skier — Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, the couple announced on social media.
Shiffrin and Kilde made the revelation Thursday night on Instagram, X and Facebook. They posted the same series of photos from a street in Innsbruck, Austria, in front of the St. Anne’s Column. Shiffrin posed while showing off her engagement ring.
She also posted an image series of joyful emojis and a diamond ring.
Kilde, 31, and Shiffrin, 29, confirmed their relationship in 2021 on social media. Kilde, a Norwegian, won silver and bronze medals in alpine skiing at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. The two-time silver medalist at the 2023 World Championships also owns 21 World Cup gold medals. He claimed the overall title at the 2020 World Cup.
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A post shared by Mikaela Shiffrin ⛷ (@mikaelashiffrin)
Kilde sustained a cut in his right calf and multiple shoulder injuries during a crash in an Alpine Ski World Cup race in January in Wengen, Switzerland, and is still recovering from that accident.
Shiffrin, who claimed three medals — two golds and a silver — between the 2014 and 2018 Winter Games, also was recently injured in a January ski crash. That accident, which led to a hospitlization, occurred in an Alpine Ski World Cup race Jan. 26 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
Shiffrin sustained multiple leg injuries, but returned in March from a six-week injury hiatus. She clinched a record-tying eighth World Cup slalom season title and record-extending 96th overall World Cup win last month in Are, Sweden.
“Oh my goodness,” Kilde wrote in a quote tweet on a video of Shiffrin’s performance. “Some of the best skiing I’ve seen from Mikaela Shiffrin. Constantly in awe. I just can’t believe her.”
“Mikaela’s never started a race that she doesn’t think she can win.” – @tedligety on this week’s Stifel Snow Show
…and win she did.
Win #96 and eighth slalom globe – this is how @MikaelaShiffrin does it.#stifelusskiteam pic.twitter.com/rHfUue61DW— U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team (@usskiteam) March 10, 2024
Kilde, who underwent multiple surgeries because of his injuries, posted several workout videos, detailing his recovery process Thursday on Instagram.
That footage showed the skier walking, using an anti-gravity treadmill and performing several lower- and upper-body exercises.
