Mikaela Shiffrin opens up about her plans for a dream life after skiing with fiancé Alexander Kilde

Mikaela Shiffrin is the most successful skier of all time, having won a total of 97 world cups. Recently, the American opened up on what she envisions her future to be once she calls time on her skiing career and the role her fiancé Alexander Kilde plays in her life.

Shiffrin took to the slopes when she was just a child and was quickly hailed as a prodigy, making her World Cup debut in 2011 when she was just 15 years old. Since then, she's made 152 trips to the podium, 97 of which have been to the top step. She’s also claimed five overall titles in the 14 seasons she's raced in.

Now, as she readies for what will no doubt be another record-breaking year, Mikaela Shiffrin revealed that she's started to look at her life beyond skiing. In an interview with Olympics.com, the Colorado native explained her vision of her future and the role Kilde plays in it.

“Now I'm 29, and I'm like, okay. I won't be ski racing forever and maybe I have quite a few years left, but when I'm not ski racing anymore, what do I want from that? And now I'm now really starting to think about this and try to take it seriously.”

“With Alex I have this picture of like a future with love and family and, you know, being able to actually build something that I had when I was growing up. That's really something that's really, like, special to me.”

Mikaela Shiffrin on Alexander Kilde’s crash

For Mikaela Shiffrin, 2024 got off to a rough start as Alexander Kilde suffered a horror crash on the slopes. Racing in Wengen, Switzerland, in January, Kilde rammed into the safety nets at high speed, resulting in a dislocated shoulder, two torn shoulder ligaments, and a severe laceration on his calf which required surgery.

Opening up about how the Norwegian dealt with the aftereffects of the accident, Shiffrin called him ‘incredible’, telling Olympics.com,

“He’s an incredible person. When he wakes up from surgery and he's sick from the medication, and he has every reason to be angry and mean, he's still nice and he's still kind, and he's still thankful to everybody around him. His attitude and who he is, it made it easier to take care of him, for the people around him. And I think it gave all of us hope that things are going to be okay.”

For her part, Mikaela Shiffrin was also the victim of the slopes in 2024. The American lost control while coming out of a jump in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy and was subsequently airlifted to a nearby hospital. Fortunately, she only suffered a minor injury in her knee and was able to return to the snow six weeks later.