Salzburg skier Roland Leitinger draws the line

2023-12-17 16:40:31

Giant slalomist Roland Leitinger is ending his long career, which was marked by injuries, in Alta Badia in South Tyrol.

The place and time came as a bit of a surprise, but the retirement was foreseeable: Salzburg’s Roland Leitinger (32) ended his career on Sunday in Alta Badia. His greatest success was becoming runner-up in the world championships (behind Marcel Hirscher) at the 2017 Alpine Ski World Championships in St. Moritz.

“I decided to take this step following the race in Val d’Isere. It’s a hard step for me, but it feels right,” said Leitinger, who met in the presence of his wife Simone, with whom he got married in the spring Expected child, the Austrians said goodbye to coaches, colleagues and journalists in the team hotel.

Leitinger’s career was marked by many setbacks. It was here in Alta Badia that he suffered his first cruciate ligament tear during training in 2012. The Pinzgauer from St. Martin near Lofer developed into a giant slalom specialist early on; his breakthrough came in Sölden in 2015: with the fastest time in the second round, he moved into the top of the world for the first time (6th). A year and a half later, his shining moment came: he qualified for the World Championships in St. Moritz, practically at the last drop, where he then won silver.

Just a year later, his difficult journey back began following another cruciate ligament tear, as he had fallen out of the top 30 in the starting list. In October 2021, the tide seemed to turn: Leitinger started the World Cup season in Sölden in second place, shortly followingwards he tore his cruciate ligament for the third time while training on the Reiteralm. “I tried it for two years, but physically it’s no longer working.”

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