“Hard to let go”
At the age of 27: ski jumper ends her career
April 28, 2026 – 5:57 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
She struggled with a serious injury for a long time. Now a long-time World Cup participant has made a groundbreaking decision.
After a decade and a half of ski jumping, Natalie Eilers is drawing a line in the sand. The 27-year-old announced her resignation on Tuesday. “Thank you, ski jumping, I miss you already,” wrote Eilers on Instagram.
“I was waiting for the right time to do it, but it seems like the thought of writing about it made it so real that maybe that’s why I avoided it,” said the Canadian. And further: “When you’ve invested 15 years in something, it’s incredibly difficult to let go of it – but I’ve known for some time that this season was the end of my professional sports career.”
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2025 was particularly formative for her. Eilers wrote that it was “one of the most difficult (and rewarding) years” of her life so far. She suffered a serious knee injury in January 2024.
This is also why her personal view of success has changed. “What I’ve learned over the last few years is that sometimes success can look different than we imagined, and that’s okay. It used to be medals, then it was just about getting back on the hill.”
Looking back, she also expressed gratitude for her own development. She emphasized in her post: “I had big dreams for myself, but I don’t think any of it would have been possible without her – even if it’s not exactly what my 13-year-old self imagined. In a way, I’m even prouder.”
