“Initiated by the knee injury”
German athlete ends career
November 2, 2025 – 10:52 amReading time: 2 minutes
She actually wanted to come back after her injury, but now Neele Eckhardt-Noack has announced the end of her sporting career.
Neele Eckhardt-Noack won bronze at the European Indoor Championships four years ago. Now the German triple jumper has announced the end of her career. The 33-year-old introduced this step on Instagram with the following words: “I’m saying goodbye to competitive sports.”
She also posted several snapshots. The first photo shows the German athlete in a full stadium. Neele Eckhardt-Noack can be seen from behind, waving to the crowd in the national team’s uniform and smiling.
Eckhardt-Noack also wrote about the photo: “I always wished I could decide the end of my career on my own, but in the end it was initiated by the knee injury. However, the joy and gratitude for my career outweighs it.”
In December of last year, the German athlete announced that because of her injury, she had to have the fibular head stabilized through an operation in her knee in order to be able to continue jumping. The fibular head is located on the outside of the lower leg, directly below the knee joint. She wanted to see how the rehabilitation process developed afterwards. Now she announced the end.
Neele Eckhardt-Noack thanked her partners during her career and concluded her statement with this: “A very special thank you goes to my long-time trainer, without whom I would certainly not have been so successful. I look forward to all of life’s new challenges and hope to always remain connected to the sport.”
Last year Eckhardt-Noack became the mother of a son. Her triple jump colleague Caroline Joyeux also commented on the end of her career: “I wish you all the best for the future. It was an impressive career.”