Athletes Retirements Thread

[NearPup 3,051]

5 hours ago, seb851 said:

Dara Howell, FreeSki Slopestyle-Big Air, 2014 Olympics Champion, 2013 2th place World Champioship and 4x Bronze Medal. She is official retired  

 

Dara Howell story is very sad ..

She really never got back to the level she was at in 2014, and frankly everyone just kept improving leaps and bounds.

[seb851 31]

10 hours ago, NearPup said:

She really never got back to the level she was at in 2014, and frankly everyone just kept improving leaps and bounds.

I don't agree, she had the level but it's more a problem of motivation and mental preparation. Freestyle Canada is one of the worst canadian federation in terms of athlete support ... many athletes ended their careers very early in the last Olympic cycle ...

[Makedonas 2,155]

 Alkisti Avramidou and Christina Tsoukala (water polo)

 

Avramidou is 33 years old. She already retired from the Greek national team at 31.

 

Tsoukala is only 30 years old, played her last match with the national team at 29. 

 

Both girls played for Olympiacos and won Euro League this past year. Both girls were also part of the Greek national team which won gold at the 2011 World Championships as well as three silver medals at the European Championships (2010, 2012, 2018). Tsoukala was also at the 2008 Olympics as a 17 year old.

 

I don't think anyone ever expected Tsoukala to never return to the Olympics after making her debut at 17, but that's another discussion. Avramidou is possibly the best women's water polo player ever from any country to never go to the Olympics (for as long as it has been an Olympic sport). I thought Tsoukala would stick around until 2024 and definitely didn't think she'd end her club career too, so this is sad news. What a story it would've been to go back to the Olympics 16 years after Beijing. Oh well...

 

Also now everyone from our World Championships winning team 10 years ago is retired 

[vinipereira 3,240]

Natalia Gaudio (Rhythmic Gymnastics)

 

Her biggest achievement is probably the AA bronze medal at the 2019 Pan American Games and participation at the Rio Olympics.

[intoronto 5,639]

Nathan Hirayama, rugby sevens  announced retirement. This now means both of Canada's flag bearers from Tokyo have now retired.

[Makedonas 2,155]

 Kostas Kaimakoglou (basketball)

 

He was a Euroleague champion, and national team member for many years. Won bronze at Eurobasket 2009. In total he was on two World Cup teams and four Eurobasket teams.

 

This is really the year of retirements for Greek basketball legends, everyone from that generation is gone. Spanoulis, Zisis, Perperoglou, Kaimakoglou and maybe I am forgetting 1-2 more.

[dcro 10,210]

Andrew Nicholson

 

Countless achievements, but he already stopped campaigning for championships after a conflict with the NZ federation during the 2014 WEG.

[Gianlu33 4,568]

Matteo Galvan, 2009 indoor European championship in the 4xq00, announced his retirement. 

[Monzanator 4,502]

Gregor Schlierenzauer (ski jumping) announced his retirement. He won everything except the individual OG gold medal.

[maestro 652]

Mary Keitany, world record holder in the marathon.

 

Mary Keitany: Kenyan world record holder retires - BBC Sport