http://www.skiracing.com/news/news_d...hp/2728/ALPINE

A long and illustrious ski racing career came to an end recently when
German team veteran Hilde Gerg decided to retire from the sport after
suffering a serious knee injury during training. Gerg was a bright
light, often the only one, for the German team for many years,
soldiering on despite injury. Her loss is the latest in a series of
crippling blows to the struggling Germans, who have been unable to field
a decent men's team for several years and who have watched their women's
squad age and thin out without much in the way of new talent coming
along. Gerg retires with many honors to her credit, including a gold
medal in slalom and a bronze in the combined at the Nagano Olympics,
three World Championship bronze medals, and literally dozens of World
Cup podiums. Gerg finished 2nd in downhill, 5th in super G, and 7th
overall in the World Cup standings in 2005.

Personal reaction: this strikes me as particularly sad. Ski racers
retire all the time, and injury usually has something to do with it, but
Hilde Gerg could still bring it. The knee injury was a bad one that
would have taken anyone out for the season, and if Gerg was 22 years
old, she'd probably shrug and tell herself that there would be other
chances, other Olympics, other Worlds. I credit her with making a
decision that makes all kinds of logical sense, but I regret the
accident that forced her to it.