Aleksander Aamodt Kilde / Kitzbühel 2023 / GEPA pictures
Norwegian speed aces Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Fredrik Møller return to the World Cup environment this week in Kitzbühel. While Møller uses training on the iconic Streif as a critical step in his push toward the Olympic Games, Aamodt Kilde is once again sidelined after hurting his back in training Sunday.
With the men’s Olympic speed events set to begin Feb. 7 in Bormio, and official downhill training scheduled to start Feb. 4, time is limited. Every on-snow decision now carries added weight, as Norway’s top speed skiers balance urgency with the physical realities of recovery. While injuries continue to shape their plans in Kitzbühel, the outlook remains cautiously positive as both athletes take measured steps forward.
Tuesday’s Training and Kitzbühel Week
Two-time Hahnenkamm downhill winner Aleksander Aamodt Kilde arrived in Kitzbühel for quality downhill training and drew bib 19 for Tuesday’s first official training run on the famed Streif. He did not start the session, and it is now clear he will also miss Wednesday’s second training run after sustaining a kink in his back during a Sunday training session, TV 2 Sport reported Tuesday.
Without completing an official training run, Aamodt Kilde is ineligible to start Saturday’s Hahnenkamm downhill.
“I probably won’t race the super-G on Friday either,” Aamodt Kilde said Tuesday evening in Kitzbühel according to TV 2 Sport.
A medical check-up showed no serious injury and it is expected that his back should feel better day by day, Norwegian Head Coach Michael Rottensteiner told TV 2 Sport on Monday.
On a positive note for the Norwegian team, Møller completed Tuesday’s Kitzbühel training run, only one month after sustaining a back injury from a forceful crash in the Val Gardena downhill on Dec. 18 and shortly after being allowed by doctors to return to proper ski training.
Teammate Adrian Smiseth Sejersted is ready for the Streif, being the only member of the historically strong Norwegian men’s speed team who has raced each World Cup speed event so far this season. He placed third in the Beaver Creek downhill in December.
Møller with Olympics in Sight
Møller was injured in Val Gardena when landing a jump forcefully on his back. He briefly summed up his injuries on social media: “Missing some of my front teeth and a couple of small but stable fractures in the spine (T4, T5, T7).”
After wearing a back brace and staying away from ski training for one month, as ordered by doctors, he has been back in proper on-snow training together with Aamodt Kilde since mid-January.
After winning the December 2024 World Cup super-G race on the Olympic race hill in Bormio, Møller is focused and positive regarding what’s to come. In an interview in early January, Norwegian Viaplay Sport reporter Kjetil André Aamodt asked whether Møller’s goal is an Olympic gold medal.
“Yes, I can’t say anything other than that. I believe in that. SG worked out until I crashed. This will be fine. It’ll work out,” Møller replied in his usual, soft-spoken manner.
Aamodt Kilde’s Training Choices
Møller and Aamodt Kilde have trained and recovered together over the past weeks.
Aamodt Kilde sustained major injuries when crashing into the safety fence near the finish in the Lauberhorn downhill in Wengen two years ago. In November, he made his World Cup comeback in the Copper Mountain, Colo., super-G.
However, this year he did not feel ready to race the World Cup events in Wengen last week. Instead, Aamodt Kilde decided to focus on efficient and targeted ski training with his coaches. He explained the choice in a social media post and included thoughts about downhill and why he loves the fastest discipline:
“It demands respect. It demands preparation. Even for experienced guys like me. And sometimes the biggest wins happen long before race day, in training, when each lap makes you want to take another and makes you even hungrier for that special moment in the race start. Because one always leads to the other.”
Training in Sölden and Hinterreit
During the past weeks, Aamodt Kilde has compiled quality training in Sölden and Hinterreit, Austria. On Jan. 17, the day of the men’s legendary Lauberhorn downhill in Wengen, he talked with Viaplay Sport about his status and outlook.
“I feel I’m in the right place when I sit in Hinterreit. Just finished training, which was good. Nice snow. Got eight runs today in super-G, so that’s the repetition I need and it feels really nice. This is where things should be right now, and then there’ll be that comeback again, 2.0, sometime down the road.”
Not Keeping Up
“I’m taking everything very calmly. In the last 15 days, I’ve had 13 days of skiing that have been very good. I have been able to go through some of the technical stuff; tried to learn how the body moves again. That’s what’s been the challenge now, that I feel that my body doesn’t quite keep up with what it’s supposed to do. So, it’s been very difficult, and quite simply a lot of risk when I’ve been racing,” Aamodt Kilde explained during the Viaplay Sport interview on Jan. 17.
“The competitions that I’ve raced that have been good have been the races that I’ve been able to prepare a bit for and on snow that has perhaps been a little slower.
“When we got to Val Gardena, it was suddenly Val Gardena with insanely high speed, a lot of bumps and a lot of stuff, and I felt that I wasn’t ready for this. And then there were things in training right after Beaver Creek that had consequences. So at least now, I feel that the training I’m doing now is going to help me, not only for the short term, but also long-term. So, I am very, very happy to trust the gut feeling and go with the decisions I’ve made now.”
Downhill Training Needed
After the recent giant slalom and super-G training, Aamodt Kilde and Møller planned to focus on downhill training opportunities associated with the Kitzbühel World Cup. Securing locations and conditions for full-length, quality downhill training runs is not easy, but the race sites provide this opportunity, including full safety measures.
Decisions on how to proceed will be made step by step, and unfortunately, Aamodt Kilde’s planned starts in Kitzbühel had to be altered.
On Jan. 17, before hurting his back, Aamodt Kilde explained his plans to Viaplay Sport, and hopefully he will be back in training soon: “Getting a few laps on the longest skis would be very good. I will use the warm-up very thoroughly. And then, through the inspection, get that experience again.
“We will take things day by day. But the plan is a bit back to when I was young and promising. We were always first in the warm-up, using it as a training opportunity. So that’s where we have to go back to, to use every single day to get even better. That’s where we are now.”
Sources: Viaplay Sport Norge, TV 2 Sport, Instagram
About the Author: Bente Bjørnsen Sherlock
