Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde will miss the entire upcoming Alpine Skiing World Cup season. The 32-year-old specialist in speed disciplines has to undergo another operation on his left shoulder, which he injured after a heavy fall in the January downhill in Wengen.
After the race in the Swiss resort, Kilde underwent an operation on his foreleg and later on torn ligaments in his shoulder.
He admitted in February that he wasn’t sure he would ever return to his previous level of competition. Subsequently, he devoted himself to rehabilitation and in April he got engaged to the most successful SP skier, American Mikaela Shiffrin. During the training process, he suffered complications in his recovery, as his shoulder needs another operation.
“After my fall in Wengen and a few difficult weeks, things started to improve. I even skied again in Oslo in June. Unfortunately, a month later I got an infection in my shoulder which caused some complications. After ten weeks of antibiotics I need another operation, so that the shoulder can be completely fixed.
Downhill skier Andreas Sander has announced that he suffers from mitochondrial dysfunction and has to suspend his career indefinitely. At the team meeting in Nuremberg, the 35-year-old German ruled out the December start at the first race of the season in the American Beaver Creek.
Unfortunately that means I won’t be competing this winter. However, I will rehabilitate and work on my return as soon as possible.” olympics.com relayed Kilde’s statement.
The overall winner of the WC from 2020 and holder of four small crystal globes (2x downhill and 2x super-G) will also miss the February WC in Saalbach, Austria, where he could defend his two silver medals from last year’s world championship in Courchevel.
“Alexander is ready and well motivated for the new rehabilitation process. We expect him to be able to return to the slopes next season.” said the doctor of the Norwegian alpine skiing team, Trond Floberghagen.
The Norwegian skier also has two medals from the Olympic Games. In Beijing (2022) he won silver in the alpine combination and bronze in the super-G. The winner of 21 WC races should return to the competition round in 2025/26, which will culminate in the Olympic Games in Italy.
