French ski racer Mathieu Faivre has announced his retirement on his social media account. In a video posted on Instagram, Faivre said with sadness in his voice, “I have decided to announce the end of my ski carreer.” Faivre is a seasoned Giant Slalom skier who has three World Championships and an Olympic medal to his name. U.S. readers may remember Faivre’s name as he was famously dating U.S. ski racer Mikaela Shiffrin from 2017 to 2019.
Faivre admits that the decision had not been easy to make as ski racing had been his whole life. The 33-year-old recalls how he spent years chasing his childhood dreams. Faivre made his World Cup debut at only 18 years and claimed his first World Cup podium in the 2015-16 season and his first World Cup victory the following season. ”Skiing ignited a flame within me that guided me through all these years,” he describes his journey in the sport that became the center of his life for nearly two decades. Through highs and lows, “this inner flame gave me strength to never give up,” and gave meaning to all his struggles.
The Giant Slalom specialist competed at six World Championships and three Olympics and has won three World Championship titles and a Bronze medal at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games—a feat he described as his childhood dream. But after winning the Olympic medal, Faivre admits that the flame that had driven him all those years faded. “Just after my Olympic medal it was as if everything suddenly fell away,” he admits. Faivre describes how he simply felt fulfilled, since he had “achieved what I had truly longed for deep inside since I was a kid.”
The French athlete says he is excited to see what the next chapter will bring but has not announced any concrete plans for his future. His announcement was met with a flurry of messages from active and retired ski racers, including Lucas Braathen, Felix Neureuther, Clement Noël, and Ted Ligety.
