On Monday morning during a press conference held at the panoramic summit restaurant atop the Zugspitze, Austrian Nicole Hosp officially announced her retirement from ski racing.

Already at the Finals in Lenzerheide, Hosp made it known that she was unsure regarding the continuation of her career and today she made it official.

“The fire is no longer there. I finish my career as healthy and successfully as I started it,” a teary Hosp said in the press conference.

Hosp’s first big World Cup result came in 2002 when her first victory came as a three-way tie with Tina Maze and Andrine Flemmen in Soelden, Austria.

Soelden was only the eighth World Cup start for Hosp who skied her first one in 2001 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Over the course of her 15 years on tour, Hosp competed in 287 World Cup races and collected 57 podiums (in all disciplines) and 12 victories (5x giant slalom, 5x Slalom, 1x Super-G, 1x Super Combined).

Hosp leaves the sport as one of the most decorated Austrian female athletes with three Olympic and six World Championship medals.

In her final season on the World Cup tour, Hosp returned to her technical roots to win the second slalom of the season in Aspen, Colorado. It was her first victory since 2008. Following the race, Hosp held off tears as she said it was one of the most special wins of her career because of all the injuries that had plagued her past seven seasons. She ended the year fifth in the overall standings, ninth in slalom and sixth in super G. She earned two podiums, in addition to her victory, one in super G and another in downhill.

The FIS family wishes Nicole all the best in her future endeavors!