Austrian slalom specialist Mario Matt, the Sochi Olympic champion, has announced his retirement, a month before his 36th birthday.
“I’ve decided to bring my career to an end,” Matt told a press conference in the western Austrian resort of Sankt Anton, where he won the first of his two world titles in 2001 at the age of 20.
Matt has been plagued by recurrent injuries and has only managed to finish three of the eight slaloms he has started this season, his best showing being a 12th place finish in Kitzbühel.
He won a second slalom world title in 2007 and took bronze in the 2013 worlds in Schladming before his surprise Olympic victory last year.