Mikaela Shiffrin's fiance Aleksander Kilde puts Roger Federer at top of his favorite sporting heroes while listing Usain Bolt

Mikaela Shiffrin's fiancé, Aleksander Kilde, named Swiss maestro and 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer as one of his favorite athletes outside of skiing. The Norwegian skier is currently preparing for his comeback season after being forced to sit out the entire last season due to his injuries and surgeries.

Kilde's training has been quite intense before the start of the season with her Norwegian teammates. Barring that, Kilde was present for the Atomic ski media day recently, where he also got to spend some time with Shiffrin. Just a few days before the start of the new season, Kilde also spoke about his favorite non-skier athletes in an interview with FIS Alpine.

Kilde stated that the 100m and 200m men's world record holder, Usain Bolt, is one of his top picks before naming Federer as his top pick. Kilde's third pick was seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher. Kilde stated (via FIS Alpine):

"Usain Bolt, I really love him, he's definitely top-3. Federer for sure, he is one I would say I put him on top. Michael Schumacher, too, he was a big hero."

Aleksander Kilde is a big tennis bug and has been spotted in several tournaments, such as the 2025 Boss Open. Notably, her fiancé and veteran alpine ski racer, Mikaela Shiffrin, is equally invested in tennis and has attended the 2024 US Open. Shiffrin also shared a close bond with the 2025 Wimbledon champion, Iga Swiatek.

Mikaela Shiffrin recounts her time during the off-season in the summer

Mikaela Shiffrin recounted her activities during the skiing off-season before the beginning of the 2025-26 season. Speaking in an interview, Shiffrin shared that she has had a good time over the summer break, which was immensely productive for her too.

Additionally, Shiffrin also mentioned that she spent a good amount of her time with her family, fiancé Aleksander Kilde, and her family during this period. The American alpine ski racer said (via FIS Alpine, 00:02 onwards):

"I've had a good summer, productive training. I feel like I've got a lot of strength back, especially my core from last season. I've gotten stronger. Some good travelling, some fun events and things, and then a lot of time with family, a good time with Alex, and also with his family in Norway in the summer. So, it's been busy but yeah, it's been okay."

During her interview, Mikaela Shiffrin also revealed that she is still nervous and not confident about her races in the upcoming 2025-26 season, but she is approaching her race mindset, courtesy of her training in the last few weeks.

About the author

Soumik is a journalist at Sportskeeda who covers US Olympics. Currently an Honors student of Journalism and Mass Communication, he has also worked for other firms as a tennis and football content writer.

Soumik’s favorite Olympian is Michael Phelps and he believes that the eight-time Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer has revolutionized the spectrum of Swimming. Nonetheless, the adrenaline rush that Track & Field sports offer interests him the most; and Neeraj Chopra’s historic gold-medal victory at the 2020 Tokyo Games is his favorite moment from past Olympics.

Soumik sources data and facts from credible sources like BBC and NBC for accurate and relevant reporting, and keeps up with updates on social media and news media platforms.

He feels that covering collegiate tournaments, similar to what is done in the United States can be a good way to cover the bridge the coverage gap during the Olympics off season.

When not reporting on the latest Olympics news stories, Soumik likes to play cricket and watch movies.

Know More

Edited by Soumik Bhattacharya