Kelly Sildaru (; born 17 February 2002) is an Estonian Olympic freestyle skier.
Career Sildaru won a gold medal in the slopestyle event in the 2016 Winter X Games beating Tiril Sjåstad Christiansen. With this win, at age 13, Sildaru became the youngest gold medalist to date at a Winter X Games event and the first person to win a Winter X Games medal for Estonia. She is also the youngest to win two X Games gold medals. Sildaru has won the women's slopestyle on the 2015 and 2016 Dew Tour.
During the Big Air competition of the 2017 Winter X Games Norway, Sildaru became the first woman ever to land a Switch 1260° Mute and a 1440° during a competition. Because of her young age, the first World Cup event she was allowed to participate in was on 27 August 2017 in Cardrona, New Zealand. She won the slopestyle competition.Estonian teenager Kelly Sildaru wins World Cup slopestyle 27 August 2017, stuff.co.nz
Despite being the gold medal favorite for the women’s slopestyle event in 2018 Winter Olympics, she missed competing in the Games because of a knee injury. However she later recovered and was able to compete in the world championships winning gold in halfpipe. In the 2020 Youth Olympic Games she won a gold medal for the Women's Freestyle Skiing.
During the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, she won a bronze medal in the slopestyle event with her top score of 82.06 in her first run.
Sildaru has been named the female Estonian Athlete of the Year twice (2019, 2022), and is the recipient of a high Estonian state award, the Order of the White Star, 3rd class.
At the 2026 Winter Olympics, Sildaru placed 13th in halfpipe qualifiers.
Personal life Sildaru's younger brother, Henry Sildaru, is also an Olympic freestyle skier.
Freestyle skiing results All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).
Olympic Games 1 medal – (1 bronze) Year Age Slopestyle Halfpipe Big air 2018 Pyeongchang 15 injured: did not compete 2022 Beijing 19 Bronze 4 17 2026 Milano Cortina 23 – 13 –
Winter Youth Olympics 1 medal – (1 gold) Year Age Slopestyle Halfpipe Big air 2020 Lausanne 17 Gold — —
World Championships
1 medal – (1 gold) Year Age Slopestyle Halfpipe Big air 2019 Park City 16 Gold — 2021 Aspen 18 injured: did not compete 2023 Bakuriani 20 injured: did not compete
Junior World Championships 7 medals – (6 gold, 1 silver) Year Age Slopestyle Halfpipe Big air 2017 14 Gold Gold 2018 15 Gold Gold Silver 2019 16 Gold — Gold
Winter X Games 9 medals – (6 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze) Year Age Slopestyle Superpipe Big air 2016 Aspen 13 Gold — — 2017 Aspen 14 Gold — Silver 2018 Aspen 15 injured: did not compete 2019 Aspen 16 Gold Silver Bronze 2020 Aspen 17 Gold Gold 4 2021 Aspen 18 injured: did not compete 2022 Aspen 19 — Gold — 2023 Aspen 20 injured: did not compete
Winter X Games Europe 1 medal – (1 silver) Year Age Slopestyle Superpipe Big air 2016 Oslo 14 — 4 2017 Hafjell 15 — Silver
World Cup results
Sildaru ended the 2021-2022 World Cup season by winning the FIS World Cup slopestyle title and taking home her first crystal globe.
Season standings Season Age Overall Slopestyle Halfpipe Big air 2017–18 15 94 21 18 — 2018–19 16 29 10 4 — 2019–20 17 did not compete 2020–21 18 12 19 — 2021–22 19 6 16 2022–23 20 19 14 15 — 2023–24 21 injured: did not compete Standings through 17 January 2024
Race Podiums 6 wins – (5 SS, 1 HP) 13 podiums – (6 SS, 6 HP, 1 BA)
No. Season Date Location Discipline Place1 2017–18 27 August 2017 Cardrona, New Zealand Slopestyle 1st2 1 September 2017 Cardrona, New Zealand Halfpipe 2nd3 2018–19 23 November 2018 Stubai, Austria Slopestyle 1st4 7 December 2018 Copper Mountain, USA Halfpipe 1st5 9 March 2019 Mammoth, USA Halfpipe 2nd6 2020–21 8 January 2021 Kreischberg, Austria Big air 3rd7 2021–22 20 November 2021 Stubai, Austria Slopestyle 1st8 10 December 2021 Copper Mountain, USA Halfpipe 3rd9 8 January 2022 Mammoth, USA Halfpipe 2nd10 9 January 2022 Mammoth, USA Slopestyle 1st11 26 March 2022 Silvaplana, Switzerland Slopestyle 1st122022–23 19 November 2022 Stubai, Austria Slopestyle 2nd13 17 December 2022 Copper Mountain, USA Halfpipe 3rd
Trivia Sildaru was honored with a one-of-a-kind Kelly Sildaru Barbie doll on 25 May 2022 as part of Barbie's Dream Gap project.
References
External links
Kelly Sildaru at the Estonian Ski Association (archived)