Slovakian biathlete Ivona Fialkova ends her career as a top athlete. The 28-year-old announced this on Friday on Instagram.
The end of the biathlon circus for Ivona Fialkova: The younger sister of top athlete Paulina Batovska Fialkova hangs up her gun.
“It’s not easy to make a decision about the end of a biathlon career, so I’m only writing this post in the summer,” Fialkova began her post on Instagram: “My journey as a professional athlete is coming to an end. I made this decision personal, but also for health reasons.”
Top-class sport has always been the focus of her life, she confessed: “And I admit that I often felt that I gave him more than I got back in the form of results. When I look back at my results now and a fifth place at the Olympic Games [mit der slowakischen Damen-Staffel im Jahr 2018, Anm. d. Red.]a sixth at the World Championships [2020 in der Verfolgung in Antholz] and seeing multiple top 10 finishes, I’m proud of myself and just as proud of our team and everything we’ve achieved together over the years.”
Ivona Fialkova can look back on a total of 126 starts in the Biathlon World Cup, with two top 10 finishes each in the sprint and pursuit.
Fialkova moves “to the other side”
It was “not always easy” to “do sports in Slovakia”. Nevertheless, Fialkova thanked her club VSC Dukla and the sponsors. The 28-year-old emphasized that they had always supported her “in good times and bad”.
The ex-biathlete left it open what Ivona Fialkova will deal with in the future. However, she indicated: “I’m going to the other side. I’m curious to see how it goes.”