While his teammates are getting ready for the upcoming season in a training camp in Kuopio with their new head coach Lauri Hakola, Ville Larinto has now announced his retirement.

The 28-year-old Finn had to deal with setbacks due to injuries various times over the last years, and these problems now also lead to this decision. He considers the ACL tear he sustained in Garmisch-Partenkirchen 2011 a turning point in his career: "Until then everything went great. I was among the best and even won a World Cup. Back then, the difficult years started for me and I never got to the level again that I had before I was injured."

Despite all the problems, ending his career was not easy for Ville Larinto: "I have dreamed of ending my career on top, but this is not always possible. It was a very bitter and sad moment. When I returned home after I spoke to coach Andreas Mitter about my decision late March and understood what that meant I started crying. I realized that will not do what I love anymore. I hated the difficult moments, but I mainly loved it", Ville Larinto is quoted on yle.fi.

Since his debut in 2007, Ville Larinto competed in 95 individual World Cup events and took his only win in December 2010 in Kuopio. He finished on the podium a total of five times.

Source: fis-ski.com