Mario Matt bids farewell

At a press conference in St. Anton Thursday, Austrian slalom specialist Mario Matt announced his retirement from professional ski racing.

“I noticed during the course of this season that ski races are no longer the most important thing in my life,” Matt said. “Looking back fills me with great satisfaction. I believe not many have been as lucky as I have, becoming twice World Champion and winning an Olympic gold.”

Since failing to finish the first run of the World Championships slalom in February, Matt has been off the slopes due to an ankle injury and will miss the two remaining slaloms of the season, Kranjska Gora and Meribel.

“Further evaluations have shown that the injury that I have suffered at the World Championships was worse than originally thought. Due to a bone marrow edema on my ankle I will no longer be able to race this season,” Matt explained.

As far as plans for the future go, Matt is looking forward to spending more time with his beloved horses and working at his apres ski bar, the Krazy Kangaroo in St. Anton.

“What I will not miss is the never-ending process of testing materials. This took a lot of emotional power out of me especially in this winter,” he said.

With 15 World Cup victories, two World Championship titles (2001, 2007) and an Olympic gold medal (2014), Matt leaves the sport as one of the most successful slalom racers of all time.