Mikaela Shiffrin exclusive on nearing 100 World Cup wins, looking up to Taylor Swift, and future with fiancé Aleksander Aamodt Kilde

Mikaela Shiffrin: Picturing a future with fiance Aleksander Aamodt Kilde

While Shiffrin remains focused on the upcoming season, she has also begun to reassess her priorities in recent months.

“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,” she told us.

In April, she announced her engagement with fellow skier Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who is still recovering from a serious injury suffered in January: “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.”

The double Olympic champion recently went back to the hospital to support her fiancé, who faced a shoulder infection during his rehabilitation: “I would never have liked to see him in that position again,” said Shiffrin, who praised Kilde’s positive attitude.

“He’s an incredible person – she added – 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.”