Norwegian skier Aleksander Aamodt Kilde ruptures Achilles tendon in Chile training crash

The injury

Norwegian skier Aleksander Aamodt Kilde ruptured his Achilles tendon after falling during preseason downhill training in Chile on Wednesday, 14 October. The Norwegian Ski Association announced the injury on Thursday, 15 October. The association said Kilde, who is 34, was travelling back to Innsbruck, Austria, his base, for further medical examinations and an assessment of treatment options with his medical team. The association has not said how long he will be sidelined.

We will provide an update once more information is available regarding the next steps.

A long road back

Kilde was still recovering from a severe crash at the Lauberhorn downhill in Wengen, Switzerland, in January 2024. That fall left him with a severe cut and nerve damage in his right calf and two torn ligaments in his shoulder. He returned to the World Cup in late 2025, racing nine times after his comeback and scoring points three times, with a best result of 11th place in the Beaver Creek downhill.

In February 2026 he decided not to compete at the Milan Cortina Olympics, saying: "my mind and body are not performing the way I need them to."

What comes next

Kilde won the overall World Cup title in 2020 and took silver in combined and bronze in super-G at the 2022 Beijing Games. The World Cup season opens with giant slaloms on the Rettenbach glacier in Sölden, Austria, on 24 and 25 October. The association has not given a return date, and one German-language report said the entire winter season could pass without him.