Ragnhild Mowinckel, breakthrough Olympic Alpine skiing medalist, sets retirement
Norway's Ragnhild Mowinckel, a two-time Olympic Alpine skiing silver medalist, announced she will retire after this season ends next month at age 31.
"I’m happy to walk away on my own terms," was posted on her social media.
Mowinckel said she made the decision before earning her fourth and most recent World Cup win, her first in a downhill, on Jan. 27 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, which will also host the next Olympics in 2026.
Mowinckel's greatest success came on the biggest stages.
She entered the 2018 Olympics with two career World Cup podiums. Then she won silver medals in the downhill and the giant slalom at those Games, becoming the first Norwegian woman to make an Olympic Alpine podium since 1936.
"RagMow" followed that with world championships bronze medals in 2019 (combined) and 2023 (GS).
In between, she missed the entire 2019-20 season after tearing her right ACL in March 2019 and again in November of that year.
"I think 8-year-old Ragnhild would be very proud of 31-year-old Ragnhild," Mowinckel said. "It's been a journey and even though it doesn't seem like it now, I'm still happy about the decision. I feel very lucky."
