Industry News
America’s legendary skier, Mikaela Shiffrin, has shared a heartwarming post on her Instagram account about the rollercoaster of emotions the last week has been for the athlete amidst her boyfriend’s season-ending crash on the famous Lauberhorn race course in Wengen, Switzerland. The US skier describes how heartbreaking it was to watch his crash live on TV and then rushed to be by Kilde’s side in the hospital in Bern, Switzerland. Shiffrin was training at the time in nearby Austria for her own World Cup race in Flachau.
Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, the defending Downhill World Cup champion of the 22/23 season, had crashed on the last few meters of the Downhill race at Wengen, Switzerland, on Friday, January 12, 2024. The Lauberhorn race course is the world’s longest Downhill race course, with competitors taking more than two minutes to cross the finish line.
“It feels like I’ve lived a thousand lives in the past 4 days. And I’m not the one who sent it straight into the A-net wall at 120kph💔. I can’t even put into words how much joy and energy Aleks brings into my life. Watching him get torn apart in Wengen from the TV, then airlifted, rushing with my family to meet @henriklegernes (such a hero during this time) at the hospital while Aleks went straight into surgery…and then finally seeing him as he was waking up hours later, confused and just repeating “I f*ed myself up so bad”…I don’t even know how to explain this, but it made me want to burn down the universe. But through every step of this process, he has been so beautiful and kind and thankful. He has not lost his patience once, even though he has had plenty of reasons to. He is inspiring and thoughtful and caring and he brings out the best in everyone around him, even in his most difficult moments. I went into the race last night with the thought, “if you’re gonna be here now, instead of with him, then you better make it worth it.” So incredibly thankful that my Mom, Taylor, and Kristi have been here this week and to be able to hug them in the finish after all of it.
Also want to thank my team for moving heaven and earth to help us get to Aleks as quickly as we could. And for their unwavering support and work and determination no matter what the circumstances are. That victory would not have been possible without them, not even close.❤️
To everyone sending support and well wishes for Aleks, thank you! He has had some very tough, painful, and overwhelming days and needs all of the support that he can get.🙏”
Shiffrin certainly made the most of it, winning the race at Flachau by 0.27 seconds ahead of Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova, who had gone into the second run with a 0.07-second lead ahead of her arch-rival. Shiffrin could be seen in the finish area with her eyes closed as the reality set in that she had won her 94th World Cup and her fifth Flachau night slalom. There was certainly a flood of emotions to digest before she could celebrate her victory.
- Related: Shiffrin Wins Slalom at FIS World Cup in Flachau, Austria, Collecting her 94th World Cup Victory
The Norwegian Ski Association confirmed later that Kilde had dislocated his shoulder and suffered a cut to his calf, but had no broken bones. The extent of his injuries, however, means that the athlete will be out for the rest of the 23/24 FIS World Cup season. A devastating blow for the Norwegian athlete.
“Maybe we had a lesson now. I really don’t think we need three races here, even if it was good for me.”
— Marco Odermatt“Three days is really hard physically.”
— Cyprien Sarrazin
Kilde is not the only athlete to have suffered season-ending injuries at Wengen. Marco Kohler from Switzerland as well as Alexis Pinturault from France both suffered knee ligament injuries just days before Kilde’s crash. This has led to criticism of the tightly-packed race program by both athletes, such as Marco Odermatt and Cyprien Sarrazin, as well as coaches and officials, such as Urs Lehmann, head of the Swiss Ski Association. An extra Downhill race had been added to the Wengen race program to replace a race canceled last month because of bad weather at Beaver Creek, Colorado.
The criticism by Urs Lehman in TV interviews has resulted in an official statement by the International Ski & Snowboard Federation (FIS), rejecting the criticism and pointing out that as a FIS council member, it was “unethical” and “disrespectful” to speak out publicly against the amended schedule. There has been a long-standing conflict between several national ski associations, including the Swiss Ski Association, and the Swedish FIS president Johan Eliasch. Lehmann had lost his bid for FIS presidency to the Swedish millionaire and CEO of sporting goods company Head.
“FIS strongly condemns such unethical behaviour. A Council Member has a duty to act with integrity and with the best interests of FIS at heart. The comments have harmed the reputation of the FIS Council, and are disrespectful to our Race Directors and to the whole FIS team who are working hard at the races to offer the best possible conditions for the athletes and their teams.”
Hey Johan Eliasch. It’s unethical to stack (3) races @ Wengen, w/ one of them being the longest DH on the circuit. Even Marco Odermatt, who benefited w/ a points haul over the Wengen series, thinks the schedule is irrational and predictably dangerous for the racers. Your FIS ethics statement is self serving and ironic.