Industry News
Swiss alpine skiing legend Lara Gut-Behrami has officially announced her retirement from competitive ski racing, bringing an end to one of the most decorated careers in modern alpine ski racing. The 35-year-old Swiss skier confirmed on Wednesday in a TV interview with Italian-speaking Swiss broadcaster RSI that she will not return to the World Cup circuit after months of uncertainty following a serious knee injury sustained during speed training at Copper Mountain, Colorado, in November 2025.
“After careful consideration, I have come to the conclusion that I do not want to return to the race track,” Gut-Behrami said in the TV interview. In a video reflecting on her career, Gut-Behrami looked back on nearly two decades at the highest level of alpine skiing. “Skiing has always been something magical for me,” she said. “I had the luck and honor to be able to experience a very long career, to express my dreams and wishes through my skiing, and to experience this journey alongside extraordinary people.”
She also thanked her parents for their support throughout her career, highlighting the role of her father, Pauli Gut, who coached and guided her during much of her journey. She also expressed gratitude toward her husband, former Swiss football captain Valon Behrami. “I know that the time has come to stop racing. I’m happy as it is now,” she said.
Gut-Behrami’s retirement largely follows the timeline she announced in June 2025, when she revealed that the 2025-26 Olympic season would be her final campaign. At the time, the plan was for the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics to serve as her farewell appearance before beginning a new chapter away from ski racing. She also planned to relocate to London with her husband, Valon Behrami, who was set to become sporting director at English football club Watford. However, that farewell season quickly unraveled.
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During a speed training session at Copper Mountain, Colorado, on November 20, 2025, Gut-Behrami suffered a violent crash that immediately raised concerns about the future of her career. Swiss-Ski confirmed she injured her left knee, while early reports indicated possible ACL and meniscus damage, along with a concussion. The crash was described as serious by those who saw the footage, including Head race manager Rainer Salzgeber, who called it “gnarly” and “serious.” At the time, there were fears the injury could bring a premature end to one of alpine skiing’s greatest careers.
Instead of an Olympic farewell, Gut-Behrami was forced into rehabilitation. Swiss-Ski and sponsor HEAD both continued planning around a potential return, with Gut-Behrami included on the national team’s roster for the upcoming season and her equipment program prepared for World Cup competition. Many expected a retirement after the home World Championships in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, however, she ultimately decided not to return to competition.
Gut-Behrami leaves the sport as one of the most accomplished alpine ski racers of her generation. Her career highlights include 48 World Cup victories, two Overall Season Crystal Globes (2015-16 and 2023-24), Olympic super-G gold at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, two World Championship titles in 2021 (super-G and giant slalom), as well as seven discipline Crystal Globes. Six of those disciplines globes came in super-G, making her the most successful super-G ski racer, male or female, in terms of season titles (Hermann Maier, “the Herminator” and Aksel Lund Svindal have five super-G season titles each).
With 48 World Cup victories, Gut-Behrami is the second-winningest Swiss female alpine skier in World Cup history, trailing only Vreni Schneider’s 55 victories. She also became one of the rare skiers capable of succeeding across multiple disciplines, winning major races in downhill, super-G, and giant slalom throughout her career, however, super-G was always her most successful discipline; exactly half of the 48 victories came from that discipline.
Gut-Behrami first burst onto the World Cup stage as a teenager. In her first-ever downhill race in St. Moritz, Switzerland, the 16-year-old put down a smashing run, putting her into the lead but she crashed meters from the finish line, yet spinning across the finish line but still claiming third place. It was her first of in total 101 podium finishes.
Gut-Behrami’s incredible career was also shaped by repeated setbacks. In 2009, she suffered a hip dislocation that forced her to miss the entire World Cup season and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Her most significant setback came at the 2017 World Championships in her home country of Switzerland. During the combined event in St. Moritz, she tore her ACL, forcing another lengthy recovery and raising questions about whether she could return to the top. But each time the Swiss ski racer battled her way back from injury. Her ability to repeatedly overcome setbacks became one of the defining characteristics of her career.
Although the 2025 injury denied her the Olympic farewell she had envisioned, she leaves the sport as one of Switzerland’s greatest ski racers and one of the defining alpine athletes of the modern era. At 35 years old, after nearly two decades of competing at the highest level, Lara Gut-Behrami has decided the time has come to step away.“I’m happy as it is now,” she said in the interview — and after everything she has achieved, few would argue she has earned that moment.
