German ski topper suddenly declares resignation: “It really hit me in Wengen”

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On January 20, 2018, Thomas Dressen (30) celebrated the greatest success of his career. With starting number 19 he took victory from Beat Feuz (36) on the Streif.

Exactly six years later, the circle has come full circle. He will take part in the 80th and final race in Kitzbühel (Austria) on Saturday. The speed specialist has announced his resignation. He has reached the point “where the body is really saying it can’t work anymore.”

With Dressen, Germany’s most successful downhill skier retires. He celebrated five victories, finished third two more times and also achieved three podium finishes in Super-G. The fact that he could no longer celebrate successes has to do with his medical files.

Only one race in two and a half years

A few months after his Streif victory, he suffered a serious knee injury in a fall and also damaged his hip. Although he returned with a win a year later, he was never the same afterward. His confidence in himself and his body failed him. He took part in just one race between March 2020 and November 2022. His hip caused problems and his knee required repeated surgery.

It was this knee that caused a low point last Saturday. Shortly after starting the Lauberhorn descent, Dressen felt a stabbing pain. “Then it really dawned on me,” he says, according to “Spiegel”. The consequences? He was an astronomical 11.56 seconds behind and finished 42nd, last.

Wants to be active with his children

On the way home he thought about it and had to admit that his career was on its last legs. In the evening he had a moment to himself when his wife Birgit put their daughter Elena, who was born last summer, to bed. He looked at his victory ride in Kitzbühel and realized: “I will never be able to ride like I did back then.”

He decided to resign. Also because there is “still life after ski racing” and he wants to be active with his children. And that doesn’t work if the whole body is broken. Moreover, he “no longer wants to sacrifice my frame for staining the rear.”

“I want to have fun again, enjoy everything,” says Dressen before his farewell performance. Even though it is hard for him to say hello, he is at peace with himself. “Because what could be more dignified than drawing a line in the sand of Kitzbühel?”

Source : Blick