The British slalom pioneer Dave Ryding will end his career after the coming season.
“It just feels right to draw a line to the Olympics as long as my body is doing well,” said the 38-year-old of the “BBC” with a view to the winter games in 2026 in Milan.
“I am still in the top group and can keep up with the best,” added Ryding: “I sit here without a bit of a bit of pain, without pain, which is really rare when skiing. I don’t want my legs to fall off. It is not funny if your legs fall off in the middle of the season.”
“The Rocket” celebrated his greatest success in January 2022 at Kitzbühel slalom when he was the first Brit to win a World Cup race. Ryding celebrated six more podium places in the World Cup, at the youngest World Cup in Saalbach he became sixth in his special discipline. Even though he had started skiing on a plastic route at the age of six and only regularly trained on snow at 13.
“I am determined to throw everything in again and to see what else is possible,” he said about his last season. His minimum goal for the Olympics: to be better than in his ninth place in 2018 in Pyeongchang/South Korea. “I think that doesn’t really reflect my skills.”