“I’m not willing to push the limit anymore”

After 16 World Cup seasons with 172 starts, Nicole Schmidhofer decided to turn her back on alpine skiing. The 34-year-old will contest her last World Cup race tomorrow in the Super-G in Soldeu (Andorra), but would like to keep racing in a different way. The Styrian made it onto the podium twelve times in the World Cup, four times she was at the top of the podium. Her greatest successes include the Super-G World Champion title in 2017 and the small crystal globe she won in the 2018/19 downhill season. She then broke the sound barrier of 200 km/h at the Speed ​​Ski World Championships and set the Austrian record at 217.59 km/h. Now the time has come for the Lachtalerin to say goodbye to the Ski World Cup.

“Lately I’ve had to ask myself more and more often whether I dare to continue pushing myself to the limit and I’ve noticed that I’m no longer willing to do it. My knee has developed incredibly positively and I want it to stay that way,” said Schmidhofer. “It has only become clear to me in the past few weeks that the injury has left more marks than I thought. I can no longer drive off so freely and for me it no longer means taking the fullest risk, ”added the Styrian.

“For me, the value has also shifted due to the serious injury. That’s why it’s time for me to set my sights on new tasks and challenges and to look forward to a new chapter in my life. I have always practiced ski racing with great joy and passion and subordinated everything to my career. I’ve never lacked ambition and determination and these qualities will certainly help me in the next phase of my life so that I can celebrate success again, just in a different way,” said Schmidhofer.

What are their future plans? “First of all, I want to finish my training as a rehabilitation trainer so that I can pass on my experience to others. Just to show what is possible, even if no one believes in it anymore. I would also like to expand the podcast project together with Conny Hütter and provide even more insights behind the scenes of ski racing – also off the slopes.”