"That's why I get a panic attack"- Mikaela Shiffrin's fiancé Alexander Kilde gets real about aftermath of devastating crash and surgery

Mikaela Shiffrin's fiancé, Aleksander Kilde, expressed his thoughts about dealing with the aftermath of a devastating crash and recovering after a series of surgeries. The Norwegian Alpine skier suffered a horrifying crash at the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup during a downhill race in Wengen, Switzerland.

Kilde had severely injured his shoulders with two torn ligaments and a dislocation, along with injuries to his knee. The injury needed immediate medical attention, and Aleksander Kilde underwent surgery and withdrew from the entire season to focus on his recovery and return to the slopes.

As the 2026 season is just around the corner, Kilde sat down with Mikaela Shiffrin during an episode of 'What’s the Point with Mikaela Shiffrin' and spoke about dealing with the crash as well as the post-surgery recovery. Aleksander Kilde shared that while he was prepared for injuries from being an athlete; however, the thought of having an infection from the wound made him very nervous.

"The thing that got me the most was actually, the crash itself was fine, that's like a part of the game. I am sort of not 'ready for it,' but I was kind of 'ready for it.' All the skiers are because it is a part of the game. But the infection that was more like a scary thing because it's something that is so uncontrollable. It just came out of the blue. I felt like I did everything right," he said.

Furthermore, Kilde expressed that he would get mild panic attacks after rigorous training sessions as he aimed to make a return to the slopes.

"That was bad and has been on my mind after the last surgery, probably every day, and feeling like, 'Is the infection back?', 'Is it gone?' It has been kind of hard, especially if I do something new in training, I have more loads, and I start working out normally. You get some fluid in there, maybe, which is very normal in a rehab, but I always think about that fluid being an infection. So, that's why I get those, call it a panic attack, which it is. Where I wake up alone and I'm like, 'Oh sh*t, it is back?' he added.

This is a developing article and will be updated soon.

Edited by Adityan Pillai