ENGELBERG, Switzerland — Two-time Olympic champion Michele Gisin retired from Alpine skiing Wednesday, 11 months after a serious crash in downhill training.
The 32-year-old Swiss racer took gold in Alpine combined at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games, where Mikaela Shiffrin got silver, and retained her title at Beijing four years later. She also got Olympic bronze in super-G in Beijing.
Gisin suffered neck, knee and wrist injuries in a crash at St. Moritz last December, and said she would decide on continuing her racing career only after returning to the snow to train again.
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“It has been a long process of reflection,” Gisin said in a statement. “But today I am very happy and look forward to everything the future holds.”
Gisin was married during the offseason to Italian racer Luca De Aliprandini, a former world championships silver medalist in giant slalom.
She started her World Cup career as a slalom racer in the 2012-13 season when older sister Dominique Gisin was a team star. In 2014, Dominique Gisin became Olympic downhill champion in a rare tie for gold medals with Tina Maze in Sochi, Russia.
Michelle Gisin ends her career as one of the sport’s few all-event racers and one of Switzerland’s most storied Winter Olympians. She also won two medals in combined at worlds, plus a single World Cup race in slalom and 21 podium results.
Her first medal was a 2017 worlds silver in combined on home snow at St. Moritz, where her career effectively ended.
“When I returned to St. Moritz in September, I felt an immense sense of gratitude,” Gisin said Tuesday, “for my health, but especially for all the wonderful moments I’ve been fortunate enough to experience throughout my long career.”
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