Norwegian skier Aleksander Aamodt Kilde has withdrawn from the 2026 Winter Olympics, two years after suffering a serious injury on the course that caused significant nerve damage in his right calf and two torn shoulder ligaments. "I have done everything I possibly could to be ready for the Olympics but my mind and body are not performing the way I need them to," Kilde, 33, said in a statement on Tuesday, February 3. Kilde, who is engaged to renowned American alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin, expanded in a post on Tuesday via Instagram. "Returning to the World Cup this season already means more to me than I could have imagined a year ago," he wrote. "Just making it back was a victory I'll always be proud of." Olympic Alpine Skier Mikaela Shiffrin Suffers Abdominal Puncture Wound Kilde continued, "But I've also learned that coming back after complex injuries and so much time away is tougher than I expected. Being back on the start gate alongside the best downhillers in the world was a sharp reminder that both body and mind need to be fully ready to push every run to the limit. Right now, I need more repetition to get there." Kilde's injury occurred in January 2024 while he was competing on the Lauberhorn slope in Switzerland. He crashed into the netting on the side of the course during the last turn and lay on his stomach, immobile, until he was eventually airlifted to a local hospital. "With the sudden jump in full-speed training, my body has needed more time than my mind would like," Kilde added. "That's led to the back issues that kept me out of [the Kitzbuehel World Cup super-G] and made racing in Crans-Montana anything but easy." "Because of that, I've decided to end my season earlier than planned," he explained. "At this point, I've accomplished my comeback. I've seen the pace, felt it in my body, and now I know exactly what it will take to climb back to the top." Lindsey Vonn Airlifted From Ski Course Days Before Making Olympics Return Kilde continued, "It is extremely hard to come to this decision after all the work I have put in together with my family, medical team, the national team and many others. At the same time, I am proud that I managed to fight my way back and compete at the World Cup again." His road back to competition has been arduous. Kilde was in "excruciating pain" for the first week as he lay in a hospital bed, according to a story published by The Athletic on Wednesday, February 4. In the weeks ahead, he had to learn to walk again and underwent multiple shoulder surgeries. Five months after the accident, the avid ice hockey player began skating again for 20 minutes at a time, eventually building up to an hour. By the end of that month, he skied again for the first time. Team USA's Dating Histories: Inside the Winter Olympians' Love Lives Then he suffered a setback. That July, he developed sepsis from a shoulder infection that kept him on intravenous antibiotics for several weeks. "It all stopped," his coach, Fabien Mazuir, told The Athletic. "The infection destroyed the shoulder-surgery repair. That year was gone." After 684 days, he returned to competition in November 2025, finishing 24th in a race at Copper Mountain in Colorado. The two-time Olympic gold medalist Shiffrin was there to greet him at the finish line.