OSLO, Norway (AP) — Five-time Olympic medalist Kjetil Jansrud will end his ski racing career at home in Norway on Saturday.
The 36-year-old Jansrud wrote on Instagram on Monday that he will finish at the course where he got the first of his 23 World Cup wins.
“I am, however, very glad I get to choose to retire in Kvitfjell, where I won my first in 2012 and where I’ve raced in front of family and friends every year since,” Jansrud wrote.
Jansrud is retiring weeks after making an unexpected recovery from a knee injury to compete at the Beijing Olympics, where he was seeking a medal from a fourth straight Winter Games.
He took gold in super-G at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and also won two silvers and two bronzes between 2010 and 2018 — twice sharing a podium with friend and teammate Aksel Lund Svindal.
Jansrud also won a world championships title in downhill in 2019, and topped the World Cup downhill standings in the 2014-15 season. He earned three more crystal globe trophies as the season-long champion in super-G.
A devoted fan of English soccer club Liverpool, Jansrud built a reputation as a smart and thoughtful athlete.
“In these perilous times, my retirement — and this post — feels meaningless,” Jansrud wrote in his post. “My thoughts and hopes are with the Ukrainian people. Stay strong.”
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