Swiss downhill champion Feuz to retire

Feuz came third in the downhil World Cup final in Courchevel, France, last March. Keystone / Barbara Gindl

Switzerland's Olympic champion Beat Feuz has announced that he will retire at the end of next month, 16 years after his debut in the Alpine Skiing World Cup.

Feuz said that his last race would be the downhill event in Kitzbühel, Austria, on January 21.

The 35-year-old won gold in men’s downhill at the Beijing Winter Games in February and took bronze in downhill and silver in super-G four at Pyeongchang four years earlier.

Feuz took the downhill title at his home world championships in St. Moritz in 2017 and won 16 World Cup races in his career, including 13 downhills.

Nicknamed “Kugelblitz” (ball lightning) in reference to his relatively small stature for a downhill skier, Feuz came back from several knee and Achilles tendon injuries to dominate the discipline between 2017 and 2021, winning the World Cup downhill season title in four consecutive seasons.

He also holds the men’s record with 47 career downhill podiums.

“Pushing limits and risk has been my passion in skiing for years. My emotion has often been the key to success. Now my feeling tells me that the physical limits have been reached,” Feuz said.

“I look forward to spending more time with my family and the new challenges that will come into my life,” he said.