Austrian snowboard star Anna Gasser will retire at the end of this winter. The 35-year-old announced it on Friday at the Austrian Ski Federation's kit presentation in Pasching. "I've been putting the decision off for a bit, but this is 100% my last season," the two-time Olympic champion said. She made it clear she will not change her mind.
A farewell tour on home snow
Gasser is staying on for one more winter because of the calendar. Three major events are being held in Austria this season. "It's hard for me to stop when there wasn't a single event in Austria at the start of my career, and now there are three," she told broadcaster ORF. She said she had planned all along to do those home events before retiring.
First up is Air & Style (Airdrenaline) on Innsbruck's Bergisel on November 27-28. Next is the World Cup at Kreischberg on January 8-9. Her career ends at the World Championships in Montafon in March. She is not planning a full World Cup schedule. She called the three events a compromise that leaves her time for other projects.
She also does not want to push too hard. "I won't force it anymore. I have to stay healthy, stay fit and feel safe," she told Sky Sport Austria. She will only compete when conditions are right. NBC Sports reported that she still has tricks she wants to land before she retires.
Milan Cortina as a turning point
Her future was uncertain after the Milan Cortina Olympics in February. She finished eighth in big air and 10th in slopestyle there. She was not satisfied with those results. "I felt like I couldn't show what I'm really capable of," she said of her Olympic preparation. She put off the decision for months, but it is now final.
She also leaves with an unusual Olympic record. Like Canada's Mark McMorris, Gasser has competed in every Olympic slopestyle contest since the event's debut at Sochi 2014.
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Gasser started snowboarding relatively late. She quit gymnastics at 14 and took up snowboarding at 17. She went on to shape women's big air like few others. She won the first Olympic women's big air title in Pyeongchang in 2018 and defended it in Beijing four years later. She is also a two-time world big air champion (2017 and 2023), with 13 World Cup wins and five X Games victories, including big air gold in Aspen in 2018 and 2025.
Her retirement ends an era for Austrian snowboarding. She did much to bring freestyle snowboarding to a mainstream audience in her home country. The chance to compete in front of Austrian crowds one last time is what kept her going for another season.
The farewell tour starts in seven weeks. On November 27, Gasser will compete at Air & Style on Innsbruck's Bergisel. Her last contest will be the home World Championships in Montafon in March.
