"We don't need to hide anything" - Olympic medalist Aleksander Kilde on relationship with Mikaela Shiffrin
Norwegian alpine skier Aleksander Kilde and America's Mikaela Shiffrin have been in a relationship for three years now. Kilde is an 11-time World Cup winner in the downhill event, while Shiffrin has the most World Cup wins of any alpine skier in history, men or women.
According to Shiffrin, the duo met sometime around 2015, but it was only in 2021 that they started dating. Ever since they got together, the two have given regular insights into their private life, much to their fans' delight.
Recently, Kilde sat down in an interview with Olympics.com and spoke about how the couple manages their public and private life in a time when everyone wants to know what they are up to.
"It's been a little bit round edges and not taking yourself too seriously. To give a space for your partner and also other human beings is something I've experienced as being really cool and a great way of living. That's how we also do our relationship, is that we are just authentic and we don't need to hide anything and there's nothing to hide," he said.
Aleksander Kilde and Mikaela Shiffrin both currently reside in Austria, a country where ski stars are highly revered. While living as a celebrity has its challenges, especially with regard to privacy, Kilde says it hardly interferes with their life:
“Of course we need our privacy, but we also get that it's not that crazy. But for me, it's all about just enjoying, being with someone that's super into what you do and into you. And it goes both ways and that's a good balance. It can't be better.”
Aleksander Kilde made the first move in the relationship, says Mikaela Shiffrin
According to Mikaela Shiffrin, the alpine skiing power couple originally met several years before they started dating. As it turns out, Aleksander Kilde made the first move.
Speaking in an interview with Reuters (h/t NBC Olympics) in early 2022, Shiffrin said:
"We met somewhere around seven years ago and I think he started the conversation by saying 'Hi'. He also sent the first friend request. He technically asked me on a date later that year but I sort of denied him. I thought I was being cute, but he seems to have taken it as a rejection
"He technically asked me on a date later that year but I sort of denied him. I thought I was being cute, but he seems to have taken it as a rejection."
While they remained friends after that, they only got into a relationship six years later, after Kilde reached out to the American with a supportive message after her father's death. Mikaela Shiffrin added:
"Last year he got in touch with me again with a really nice and supportive message to my family once I started racing again after my dad's accident and this time we just never stopped chatting."
Since they've gotten into a relationship, the duo have regularly been spotted cheering for each other on and off the slopes.