Olympic medalist Enni Rukajärvi is leaving the national team

Snowboarder Enni Rukajärvi, 33, who won slopestyle silver in Sochi and bronze in Pyeongchang Olympics, is leaving the national team. On Instagram, the snowboarder remembers the development of the sport during his competitive years and at the same time wants to thank the national team for all the work.

Along with the message, Rukajärvi shared a picture of himself, which was taken at the beginning of his career in the 2009–2010 season.

– This is where it all started: The 2009–2010 season, when I won the TTR world tour and was in the national team for the first time. I was in the Junior team before that. So there are more than 14 years of good competition around the globe.

Rukajärvi says that slopestyle was not part of the Olympic program in 2010, so the world tour and X-games were the main events of the winter in the sport. He went around the races alone or with other competitors.

– This gradually changed over the years and the national team became even more important.

Rukajärvi thanks the national team, its members and the Snowboarding Association. Rukajärvi does not say that he will stop competing.

In addition to the Olympic medals and the world tour, he has won five World Cup medals during his career. Rukajärvi has had a lot of influence outside the slope as well.

In 2017, he was chosen as the role model of the year at the Finnish sports gala. Rukajärvi has worked for nature conservation and donated its prize money to young snowboarders.