Lara Gut-Behrami retires after 18 World Cup seasons

Lara Gut-Behrami, one of the world's most successful alpine skiers, has announced her retirement from competitive sport. The 35-year-old athlete from the Swiss canton of Ticino is stepping away having won practically every major award an alpine skier could dream of.

• three Olympic medals - one gold and two bronze;
• nine World Championship medals - two gold, four silver and three bronze;
• two overall World Cup titles - in 2016 and 2024;
• six World Cup super-G titles - in 2014, 2016, 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025;
• one World Cup giant slalom title - in 2024.

Her results place Lara among the strongest alpine skiers of her era and possibly in the entire history of women's alpine skiing. Only Gut-Behrami has managed to achieve so many wins in three World Cup disciplines. She has 24 super-G wins, 13 in downhill and 10 in giant slalom. Among men, only Hermann Maier and Pirmin Zurbriggen have achieved something similar.

The Swiss skier won 48 World Cup races in total and stood on the podium 101 times. Over 18 seasons, she started 395 World Cup races. These figures underline the scale of the career of an athlete who remained one of the leading figures in world alpine skiing for many years.

Lara's path to retirement proved difficult. Over the years, she suffered numerous injuries, and on November 20 last year, she injured her left knee during training at Copper Mountain. Examinations revealed a torn anterior cruciate ligament, a torn medial collateral ligament and a torn meniscus. The injury prevented her from leaving the sport on the high note she had hoped for and forced her to miss the Milan-Cortina Olympics.

At first, Gut-Behrami left open the possibility of returning and was still considering continuing her career at the beginning of summer if her health allowed it. She spent a great deal of time on rehabilitation, but ultimately listened to her body and decided to stop. At 35, one of the most remarkable and successful chapters in the history of alpine skiing has come to an end.

Photo: footage from the SRF Sport television channel. 19:21, 05.08.26.