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Mikaela Shiffrin is an Olympic gold medalist and a World Cup alpine ski racer who is part of Team USA. She will be competing in the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Last summer, Shiffrin began dating Mathieu Faivre, a 26-year-old World Cup skier. Faivre was born in 1992 in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, a small town in southern France. He still lives in France, while Shiffrin resides in Colorado.
The two have been carrying on a long distance relationship for several months now.
“I don’t know if this is a smart thing to do long distance,” Shiffrin told her former roommate, Bug Pech, according to The New Yorker.
Here is what you need to know:
1. Shiffrin Recently Said Faivre Is the ‘Least Complicated’ Thing in Her Life
While some people have known about Shiffrin’s relationship with Faivre, her mom, Eileen, actually spilled the beans when speaking with The New Yorker last year.
“I’m sure you’ve heard, she has a boyfriend in France,” Eileen told the outlet. Journalist Nick Paumgarten then sent Shiffrin a text about her mom’s comments, to which she replied with a laugh.
“Oh boy. Hahaha no big deal. He’s a cutie.”
Shiffrin has made time to visit Faivre, who still lives in France, and he has come to the States to visit her in Vail, Colorado. According to the New Yorker, Faivre has stayed in a hotel when he visits, as Shiffrin, 22, still lives with her parents in Avon (about 10 minutes from Vail).
The two have a lot in common since they are both skiers, and that’s something that Shiffrin really loves.
“He’s a ski racer, so he understands all that. If I have a bad day and I’m like, ‘What if I’ve forgotten how to ski?’ That’s crazy, but he understands. He is the least complicated thing in my life,” Shiffrin recently told Sports Illustrated.
The couple has been supporting each other in various competitions over the past several months. When they aren’t skiing, the two do get to enjoy some down time together. When Shiffrin traveled to France to visit her beau, he took her to see the Eiffel Tower.
Check out the recent throwback photo that Faivre posted on Instagram. As you can see from his caption, he was having some fun with his girlfriend.
Although Faivre won’t be competing in the 2018 Olympics, he is expected to be with Shiffrin as she faces her next challenge: Earning gold in Pyeongchang.
2. He Specializes in Giant Slalom & Competed in the Sochi Winter Games
Faivre specializes in giant slalom, an alpine skiing and snowboarding discipline in which skiers speed down the slope, essentially on a pre-set path, between sets of poles, called gates. The giant slalom differs in that the gates are spaced further away from each other, when compared to regular slalom.
Skiers compete in this downhill course in a series of two timed runs.
Giant Slalom made its debut in the world championships in 1950 in Aspen, Colorado, and was added to the Olympics in Oslo, Norway, two years later. Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark has been on the podium the most in this discipline, taking home a total of 72 medals throughout his career.
On February 19, 2014, Faivre took to the slopes at the Winter Games in Sochi. He didn’t medal, however. Faivre finished 22nd in his first run with a time of 1:23.53 and 28th in his second run with a time of 1:25.90.
Competing in the 2014 Olympics was somewhat of a Bucket List item for Faivre, who previously named the Games as his top objective.
3. His Dad Was a Ski Instructor & Taught Him How to Ski When He Was Very Young
Faivre started skiing at a very young age, as his dad was a ski instructor and hit the slopes with him frequently. Faivre’s family moved from Nice, France, to Isola 2000, a mountainous region known for its ski resorts.
“I started sliding as soon as I was able to walk, with my dad and my granddad. Then I followed the normal curriculum, going through all the usual steps and categories. When I was 15, I had to leave Isola 2000 and my family to settle down in Savoy and benefit from the best possible training conditions. This is when I joined the Club des Sports de la Plagne for my first FIS year. Good results in this first season allowed me to directly integrate the French national team and become a professional skier,” Faivre told FIS SKI in a Q&A interview session back in June 2017.
When he turned 18, Faivre made his debut in the World Cup, competing in giant slalom in 2010, and the rest was pretty much history. He now competes in giant slalom regularly.
4. He Came in First Place in Giant Slalom in Val-d’Isère, France, in 2016
Although Faivre has been competing in giant slalom for many years, he didn’t place first until the Men’s World Cup in 2016.
Faivre made it to the podium in the World Cup in February 2016 at Naeba, Japan. His earned his second podium in the 2016 World Cup finals in St. Moritz, Switzerland. In December 2016, he finished in first place in Val d’Isère, France, with a total combined time of 2:04.71.
“It was an unbelievable day. Everything worked out perfectly and I was able to ski at my best. It was a great satisfaction to realize that when I set things up correctly over two runs, I am in the position to win a race. As a matter of fact, winning in front of a French crowd was special, especially as Val d’Isère is one of my favorite venues. With four Frenchmen in the five top positions, I felt very proud to offer this performance to the French ski fans,” Faivre told FIS SKI.
“I am very happy I was able to win in Val d’Isère, but I’m even more proud that I was able to be constant throughout the season and finish second of the season standings. Consistency is something I give a lot of importance to and definitely something I am looking for. To have reached that goal is fantastic and a great satisfaction,” he added.
5. He’s Also an Avid Surfer
As is the case with many athletes, Faivre is extremely active and really enjoys being outdoors.
When he isn’t hitting the slopes, you might be able to find him lifting weights at the gym or riding the waves. Although he trains for cold weather sports, he has posted quite a few pictures of himself at the beach, either playing handball with pals, or jumping on a surfboard, which you can see in the photo above.
“It is better to play than do nothing,” he captioned a photo that showed him playing ball on a beach last May.
He is also a pretty good swimmer and has shared plenty of pool photos on his Instagram account.
