THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LIENZ, Austria — American skier Sarah Schleper produced her trademark roar at the start of a World Cup race for the last time, before leisurely skiing down the Hochstein course in a coffee-coloured minidress, carrying a camera and picking up her three-year-old son Lasse midway through her run.
Schleper, who competed in four Winter Olympics, said Thursday’s slalom was the last World Cup race of her career.
The 32-year-old Schleper retired after 15 years and 186 races since making her World Cup debut in her native Vail, Colorado, in 1995.
"I love travelling, but it has become just a little bit too much stress," Schleper said half an hour after her final run, still wearing just the minidress despite the freezing temperatures. "The pressure of every race was getting to me. I felt it was time to let it go."
Schleper decided a few months ago that she was going to call it a career as soon as 2011 ended.
"I am definitely going to miss racing, I still love being in the starting gate, I still love racing and competing, I love all the girls on tour," she said. "But I didn’t feel myself getting faster anymore. That was the time for me to pull the plug."
In her career, Schleper has won one race — a slalom in Lenzerheide, Switzerland in 2005 — and had three more podium finishes, all between 2000-05. She holds five national titles — four in slalom, the other in giant slalom.
Her best results in major events were seventh in the Santa Caterina downhill at the 2005 world championships and 10th in the slalom at the 2006 Turin Olympics.
She skipped the 2007-08 season to give birth to her son. Now she’s looking forward to spend more time with Lasse and her husband Federico.
"I want to make my family a little bit bigger and really focus on my kids and make sure they get the opportunities that I have had," said Schleper, adding her farewell was emotional. "I have been crying a lot. Last night we had a team meeting and I cried. My team is like my family. To have to leave them behind and not seeing them all the time, is one the hardest things."
.The U.S. women’s team will miss Schleper as well, Lindsey Vonn said.
"Sarah has always been the light of the team, always smiling, always happy, always funny," Vonn said. "She just brings so much energy to the team. I tried to convince her to stay on the World Cup but she says it’s her time. We wish her the best with whatever she’s going to do in the future.
"It’s not going to be the same without her."
Looking back on her career, Schleper said one of her outstanding memories didn’t actually involve her.
"One of my biggest memories is when Julia (Mancuso) won the gold (in the giant slalom at the 2006 Olympics)," she said. "Just being her teammate and being there for her was really exciting. Of course I wanted to win a medal but to be able to live it through her was awesome."
Rather than individual moments, Schleper said she would most remember the ups and down of her career.
"It’s the journey, all of it. My journey has been incredible."