Aleksander Aamodt Kilde's run of misfortune has taken another cruel turn. The 34-year-old Norwegian ruptured his Achilles tendon in a crash during downhill training in Chile on Wednesday, the Norwegian Ski Federation confirmed in a statement on Thursday afternoon, little more than a week before the World Cup season opens in Sölden.
Kilde is heading back to Innsbruck, his long-time base in Austria, for further examinations and to work out a treatment plan with his regular medical team. The federation gave no timeframe for his absence and said it would provide an update once the path to recovery is clearer.
Another comeback derailed
The timing could hardly be worse. According to Norwegian media, Kilde had been targeting a return at the season's first downhill in Copper Mountain, Colorado, at the end of November. Whether he races at all this winter is now an open question.
The reaction at home was one of disbelief. Former teammate Kjetil Jansrud told VG it was "an undeserved, unfair and incredibly heavy message to receive." Ex-racer Tom Stiansen, who ruptured his own Achilles in 1999, feared the worst: "I would think the whole season is gone," he said, pointing to the long recovery that a complete tendon rupture usually requires. NRK's alpine analyst Lars Elton Myhre voiced the same concern, saying there are fears the season is lost.
A long road since Wengen
The latest setback adds to a saga that began in January 2024, when Kilde crashed heavily in the Lauberhorn downhill in Wengen. He suffered serious calf and shoulder injuries, including nerve damage in his lower leg, and went through multiple operations, infections and a lengthy rehabilitation that at times left him in a wheelchair.
Alpine Skiing'Nothing is ready': FIS casts doubt on Narvik women's World CupHe finally returned to World Cup racing in November 2025 after almost two years away. In seven speed starts he scored three top-30 finishes, with an 11th place in the Beaver Creek downhill in early December his best result. After racing in Crans-Montana, he pulled the plug in early February 2026 and withdrew from the Milan-Cortina Olympics. "I have done everything I possibly could to be ready, but my mind and body are not performing the way I need them to," he said at the time, later adding on Instagram: "My body needs more time than my head wanted."
One of the great speed skiers
The outpouring of sympathy reflects Kilde's standing in the sport. The 2020 overall World Cup champion has won 21 World Cup races, 12 downhills and nine super-Gs, and reached the podium 48 times. He took Olympic silver in the combined and bronze in super-G at Beijing 2022, and added downhill and super-G silver at the 2023 World Championships in Courchevel/Méribel.
Kilde is engaged to American star Mikaela Shiffrin, who won Olympic slalom gold in February and is preparing for the season opener. The women's giant slalom on the Rettenbach glacier in Sölden starts the 2026/27 campaign on October 24, with the men following on October 25. The speed season Kilde had been building towards begins in North America at the end of November, and after the diagnosis from Chile, it looks almost certain to start without him once again.
