“Decision is the right one”
Ski jumper ends career after 13 years
Updated on September 25th, 2025Reading time: 2 min.
Austria loses a top performer. Ski jumping ace Jacqueline Seifriedsberger ends her career. Also because of the falls in Predazzo.
Shortly before the start of the Olympic winter, Jacqueline Seifriedsberger withdraws from the SkiSprung World Cup. After 13 years at the highest level, the Austrian ends her career – with an honest reason.
She is now missing “courage and trust in the hill,” said the 34-year-old. The decision was not suddenly made, but had developed over a longer period of time. Last season Seifriedsberger had finished fifth in the overall World Cup.
Her decision was strengthened by the serious violation of her teammate Eva Pinkelnig last weekend. “I followed the events carefully – they showed me again that the decision is the right one for me,” said Seifriedsberger. In addition to Pinkelnig, ex-world champion Alexandria Loutite from Canada and the Japanese Haruka Kasai were injured on the Olympic ski jump in Predazzo. All three suffered a cruciate ligament tear.
With the resignation of Seifriedersberger, Austria loses another top performer after the end of Sara Marita Kramer and the injury of Pinkelnig. Despite the personnel setbacks, the Austrian Ski Association (ÖSV) is combative. “But we look ahead positively. We believe in the potential of our athletes, the strength of the next generation and we trust the team and the common path,” said Florian Liegl, sporting director ski jump and Nordic combination at the ÖSV.
Seifriedsberger was one of the pioneers of women’s ski jumping. She was already at the start of the 2009 World Cup premiere, as was the 2011/12 World Cup season. Now she admitted: “During the preparation for the upcoming Olympic season, I noticed that it demands a lot from me and that I can no longer give 100 percent as in previous years.”
She celebrated three individual victories in 228 World Cup operations. In total, she won seven World Cup medals, six of them in team competitions. Her greatest success in singles was bronze at the 2013 World Cup in Val di Fiemme.