Mikaela Shiffrin's Skier Boyfriend Kicked Out of Winter Olympics After Angry Post-Race Outburst

Char Adams
Updated

French alpine skier Mathieu Faivre —the boyfriend of gold medal-winning alpine U.S. skier Mikaela Shiffrin — was forced to leave the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, over negative comments he made about his team in post-race remarks, reports say.

Team France officials expelled the 26-year-old from the Games citing “disciplinary reasons” after Faivre made post-race comments that “were not in the spirit of the team,” French men’s skiing director David Chastan told the AFP, according to Yahoo Sports.

“If only you knew what I think about the group collective,” Faivre told reporters after he finished seventh in the men’s giant slalom, according to the BBC —French skiers filled four of the seven top spots in Sunday’s race. He said he was “disgusted with the result.”

“I felt I was skiing well in the second run, but when I saw where I’d finished it was like a slap in the face,” he said. He added, according to Yahoo Sports: “I’m here to race for myself only. Don’t expect miracles — eighth is my best place in the World Cup.”

Mathieu Faivre
Mathieu Faivre

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As news of the expulsion made its way around the Internet, Faivre issued an apology on social media, calling the statement his mea culpa.

“Skiing is an individual sport that is practiced as a team. However, when we are in the starting gate, only our individual race and our own performance is important,” Faivre wrote in French. He also issued an apology in English on his Facebook page in a post that was liked by his supportive girlfriend.

Bonjour Je voudrais revenir sur les propos que j’ai eu suite à ma course des Jeux Olympiques aujourd’hui à PyeongChang. Pour rappel, j’avais affirmé que la course d’équipe était le dernier des mes soucis à la question d’un journaliste me demandant mon ressenti suite à notre bon tir groupé français. Je voudrais donc juste vous écrire ce petit message pour faire mon mea-culpa si cela a pu choquer certaines personnes et vous expliquer le fond de ma pensée. Le ski est un sport individuel qui se pratique en équipe. Cependant, quand nous sommes dans le portillon de départ, seule notre course individuelle et notre propre performance a de l’importance. Alors oui, quand est venu le temps de donner mon ressenti sur ma course, quelques 10 minutes après avoir franchi la ligne d’arrivée, seule ma performance et mon échec étaient présents. Personne ne réagit de la même façon face à l’échec et je dois l’admettre, venant du sud, j’ai peut être tendance à avoir le sang chaud. Les mots ont donc dépassé ma pensée. Je n’ai voulu manquer de respect à personne, j’ai été extrêmement fier de représenter mon pays et je remercie toutes les personnes qui ont rendu cela possible. Bien à vous. Mathieu

A post shared by Mathieu Faivre (@mathfaivre) on Feb 18, 2018 at 5:53am PST

“So yes, when it came time to give my feelings on the race, some 10 minutes after crossing the finish line, only my performance and my failure were present.

Mikaela Shiffrin (left) and boyfriend Mathieu Faivre
Mikaela Shiffrin (left) and boyfriend Mathieu Faivre

“The words have gone beyond my thought. I did not want to disrespect anyone, I was extremely proud to represent my country and I thank all the people who made this possible.”

The 2018 Winter Olympics are airing live on NBC. To learn more, visit teamusa.org.