BEIJING (AP) 鈥� When was getting set to head to the athletes鈥� lounge after her third event of the Beijing Olympics, she spotted her boyfriend, Norwegian racer , who was there to watch her compete. She grabbed him by the back of his white coat, and Alpine skiing鈥檚 power couple walked side by side 鈥� at one point, glove in glove 鈥� down the snow-covered path.
When Kilde was preparing to compete in a slalom run for the first time in two years at these Winter Games, Shiffrin offered him suggestions in a discipline that鈥檚 her specialty.
They are two elite athletes in the same sport who prop each other up and help each other out. They attend each other鈥檚 races. They offer each other tips. And it just so happens that Valentine鈥檚 Day falls on Monday, during the Olympics.
鈥淭ogether we can just talk about anything and it doesn鈥檛 have to be a big deal, support each other on good days and bad days. And that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e here for,鈥� Kilde said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why you have a partner, so you can share whatever you want to share with her.鈥�
She鈥檚 won three World Cup overall titles; he鈥檚 won one. Shiffrin, a 26-year-old American, arrived in China as a two-time Olympic gold medalist and could have as many as three events remaining next week, starting with Tuesday鈥檚 downhill. Kilde, who is 29, collected a pair of medals last week, including a silver in the combined.
鈥淎 lot of people have told me, 鈥業t鈥檚 hard to find somebody who is OK with you being in more of the spotlight than they are.鈥� But at the same time, he鈥檚 under the same pressure, he has the same goals ... the same mentality. He's in the same spotlight, actually,鈥� Shiffrin said in an interview last year. "He鈥檚 just so excited for me to do what I do and he鈥檚 so excited to do what he does himself.鈥�
began with a pair of poor races, in which she missed gates within seconds of leaving the starting hut. After ending up with 鈥淒id Not Finish鈥� on the result sheet for a second time, she said she still found 鈥渟o much to be optimistic about,鈥� including that Kilde finally had earned his first career Olympic medal.
Kilde, meanwhile, sought to lift her spirits and stand up for her publicly, posting a photo of a forlorn Shiffrin 鈥� sitting on the snow after her slalom error, knees bent and head bowed 鈥� and writing on Instagram, in part: 鈥渁ll I see is a top athlete doing what a top athlete does! It鈥檚 a part of the game and it happens. The pressure we all put on individuals in the sports are enormous, so let鈥檚 give the same amount of support back. ... I love you Kaela.鈥�
They are hardly the only such pairing in skiing or other Olympic sports.
Another Alpine couple: American Travis Ganong and Canadian Marie-Michele Gagnon. He proposed on a mountain 鈥� where else? 鈥� in .
And another: Michelle Gisin of Switzerland, who won a bronze in the super-G on Friday and a gold in the Alpine combined at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, Luca De Aliprandini.
Sharing an occupation 鈥渕akes things much easier with everything,鈥� Gisin said.
They understand each other鈥檚 time constraints and demands, whether it has to do with training or competition or even doping tests and media obligations. When De Aliprandini won a silver in the giant slalom at the 2021 world championships in Cortina d鈥橝mpezzo, Italy, Gisin ran into an area reserved for reporters and started taking pictures of him with her phone.
And the examples go on and on.
U.S. aerials gave each other an early Valentine鈥檚 Day gift 鈥� a gold medal. Caldwell, 28, and Schoenefeld, 23, have been dating for around three years, and they joined Chris Lillis to win the Olympic debut of the mixed team aerials event on Thursday. There鈥檚 also newly minted Jaelin Kauf and , who've been .
American snowboarders began dating before the 2018 Winter Games, where Gerard won gold in men鈥檚 slopestyle, . Gerard said it鈥檚 terrific to provide emotional backup for each other 鈥� not to mention bounce ideas for tricks off each other.
American ice dancer , and they competed against each other Saturday. Representing the United States in that event: Madison Chock and Evan Bates, who have been a couple for quite a while now.
Mixed doubles in curling featured one married couple from Norway going up against a married couple from the Czech Republic, while Canadian curlers and Brett Gallant are engaged.
Shiffrin and Kilde were brought together by their shared career, of course. They met at a ski camp in Chile more than a half-dozen years ago.
鈥淭alked for five minutes or something,鈥� Shiffrin recalled. 鈥淏ut I was, of course, watching him ski, thinking, 鈥榃ow, he鈥檚 got some powerful turns.鈥� And we were just dropping off our skis after training one day and had some conversation and I thought, 鈥榃ow, he鈥檚 really nice and easy to talk to as well.鈥欌��
What began as a friendship eventually became something more 鈥� but only after, Shiffrin said, she was chided playfully by Kilde for not picking up on his should-we-have-dinner cues: 鈥淗e was like, 鈥極h, you鈥檙e bad at flirting.鈥欌��
After seeing a race for the first time in Beijing, arriving ninth in Friday鈥檚 super-G, Kilde spoke about being 鈥渞eally, really happy鈥� for her and the way she was able to get 鈥渦p on the horse again.鈥�
鈥淪he鈥檚 back,鈥� he said, then added with a laugh: 鈥淪he was never gone, I would say.鈥�
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AP Sports Writers Andrew Dampf, Jimmy Golen and Dave Skretta contributed to this report.
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More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Howard Fendrich And Pat Graham, The Associated Press
