Gregor Schlierenzauer withdraws from ski jumping indefinitely. The Austrian explained on his website: "I'll take an indefinite break after ten years of elite sports, I want out of the spotlight."

Schlierenzauer doesn't want to talk about retirement on his 26th birthday: "Right now I simply don't know what the future brings, I want to spark the passion again and become clear about how my way shall continue without any pressure."

The Tyrolean made his debut in the World Cup in March 2006 at age 16. He had his breakthrough in the FIS Grand Prix that same year with one win and four podium finishes.

Record World Cup winner

He achieved the first of his 53 World Cup wins in December 2006 in Lillehammer. In February 2013 he got ahead of Matti Nykaenen with his 47th win in Harrachov and since then he is the record winner in the World Cup. Back then Schlierenzauer said: "It feels good to be a legend in my sport."

Besides wins at the 4-Hills-Tournament 2011/12 and 2012/13 he took the overall World Cup title twice, became Ski Flying World Champion 2008, won six gold medals (individual and team) at World Championships and Olympic gold in the team event 2010 in Vancouver. In July Schlierenzauer spoke about a possible break in an interview with Berkutschi and said: "This is yesterday's news. I always denied that last year already. After the 2014 Olympic Games I was tired and I thought about taking a year off. But these thoughts went away soon and I gained new motivation, especially with the new coaching staff."

Win in Hinzenbach

And it really seemed as if the 2006 Junior World Champion could get back the previous strength. In September he won the final event of the FIS Grand Prix in Hinzenbach. But the year 2015 became the first year of his career during which he couldn't win in the World Cup. After a mediocre start of the season he took a break from competition, but still the 4-Hills-Tournament was a huge disappointment for him. In Oberstdorf and on his home hill in Innsbruck he failed to make the cut for the final round, head coach Kuttin took him out of the team for the competition in Bischofshofen.

Criticizing the media

Now the break. It seems that especially the public interest in his private life was difficult to handle for the outstanding talent. "I'm aware of the fact that I have certain obligations towards the public as a professional athlete, but I consider the superficial way certain media outlets acted and created an atmosphere disrespectful. In the past years certain things were published that were simply not true. From my point of view this has nothing to do with professionalism."

But still the two-time individual bronze medallist of the Winter Games in Vancouver doesn't want to blame others: "I want to thank Heinz Kuttin, the coaches and the officials of the Austrian Ski Association, they are doing a good jump, invested a lot of energy and understood the situation. But they can't jump for me, I'm the only one responsible for this sporting crises."

Source: fis-ski.com